Revenge of the Cursed Hero
by TheMarauderLife
Summary: Annabeth, Piper and Hazel are interrupted on their quest by a revengeful enemy- someone who will stop at nothing to unleash his vengeance on the demigods. Will their friends be able to save them before it's too late?
1. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ Heroes of Olympus._**

 ** _I wanted to have a go at this for a little while! Hope you enjoy:)_**

Hazel, Annabeth, Piper and Elson traipsed through the forest, their eyes narrowed as they scanned the thick canopy of trees around them; they had been walking for what felt like hours, clambering uphill into deeper and deeper forest, searching for the  
/demigods they were meant to be bringing back to camp. Around them, the sky was slowly turning from deep pink to a dusty grey as darkness swept over the forest, and a chill crept through the air, making the four teenagers shiver in their thin t-shirts.

Annabeth could sense the glances being exchanged behind her, as Hazel and Piper silently voiced the question that she had pushed to the back of her mind: _what if they're already dead?_ She could tell Elson was thinking it too- the young satyr had  
/been mournfully chewing on a seemingly endless supply of coke cans for the past hour and a half- and she felt a pang of pity for him. It was his first quest, and she knew what it felt like to be searching for a lost cause.

 _But they're not a lost cause_ , she reminded herself. The distress signal had been pinpointed to this exact forest just two days previously, and Elson had said he definitely sensed demigods nearby when they'd arrived. They just needed to have hope.  
/Gods knew it had gotten her through enough. She powered on, pushing up the hill, branches snagging on her ankles and scratching her skin. The ground was starting to level out now, which was a stark contrast to the steep, slippery slopes they'd first  
/trudged up, and Annabeth was thankful; she could feel her body tiring the higher they climbed. But as the darkness really started to creep in, the trees bathing them in shadows, so did her desperation. She found herself whipping her head back and  
/forth looking for any sign of life, but it was as if the forest were a dead land, void of anything had been appearing for weeks now- scattered all across America, the trail heading North. Annabeth didn't know why they were all appearing  
so suddenly now, but she had a feeling it wasn't good and since they didn't have enough satyrs to spare, demigods had been asked to help retrieve them. It was dangerous work, but still all the demigods she'd been sent to retrieve had come back safely.  
Until now.

"Annabeth," Piper began uneasily, placing a gentle hand on the blonde girl's shoulder. They had reached a small clearing in amongst the thick crowd of gnarled trees. "Maybe we should start to-"

"We are _not_ giving up." Annabeth interrupted, setting her jaw determinedly. "We have to keep looking, they could be anywhere around here."

Piper sighed. "That's the problem-we're just searching aimlessly. We need to take a break and think things through. We've searched the whole area that the signal came from. They're not here."

Annabeth's eyes were stormy grey with determination; not for the first time, she wished Percy was here. He would understand her need to help these kids. He understood just as much as she did what it felt like to feel very, very alone. Besides, she could  
/use some comfort right now, and Percyalways seemed to know how to make her smile."The signal was picked up two days ago. They could easily have moved further on since then."

"But in what direction?" Piper asked, gesturing around the forest. "The trees carry on for miles all around us. We've found no tracks, not a trace of human life. I think we should head back, or make a plan."

Annabeth's expression changed then, her shoulders sagging as the tiredness she'd been trying to fight leaked into her eyes. Part of her knew Piper was right; this was pointless. But the other part of her couldn't stop thinking of all the times she'd been  
/in trouble, and how desperate she'd been for help. It didn't feel right leaving these demigods out here, alone in the dark, when they were so close to a rescue.

She turned to Elson. "Do you sense anything now?" she asked, her voice tinged with desperation. "Can you smell the demigods?"

Slowly, he lowered the can he was about to take a bite out of and took a deep sniff. He shook his head somberly. "No, I don't smell any demigods. Just monsters."

Hazel frowned deeply- an expression that looked alien on her usually gentle face. Instincitvely, her hand moved to rest on the hilt of her sword. "Monsters? How strong is the scent?" she asked.

Piper waved her hand dismissively. "Forests always smell like monsters. Chiron said they hold their essence in the trees."

Annabeth nodded absent-mindedly; her mind was far away, her thoughts whirring like gears. She wished there were more of them here, so they could pan out and search the area in groups, but she definitely didn't like the idea of separating in the dark with  
/a team this small. It was too risky with the threat of monsters, and they'd just end up losing each other. _Maybe Elson could use some tracking magic?_ she wondered, but in reality Annabeth knew it wouldn't work; Elson was only young, and she  
/kept forgetting that the satyr wasn't as advanced as Grover. She sighed internally. They needed to make a plan, and quick.

Hazel's gaze softened as she watched the older girl, engrossed in her thoughts as usual; Annabeth's determination was admirable, but Piper was right- it was futile to keep searching. Hazel knew that Annabeth must know this, wise and as clever as she was,  
/but she presumed it was more a matter of not _wanting_ to believe it. "How about we set up camp here?" she offered. "Chiron's not expecting us back until tomorrow evening, so we can search tomorrow too. If we don't find anything, we can make  
/a decision about what to do then."

Annabeth visibly relaxed, her eyes clearing in that way they did when a clear plan was set out. But still, Hazel could see the tinge of hesitation in the grey flecks of her irises as she nodded. "Okay." she replied.

Piper seemed relieved too, setting down her rucksack on the dried-out ground and rubbing her hands together. "Right. I'll put up the tent. Elson, do you think you could-"

But, just as she spoke, a roar exploded from the trees- a sound so bloodcurdling, it turned Annabeth's stomach to ice.

"Quick! Get behind me, the three of you." She had already drawn her knife and she watched as the others did the same- Hazel drawing her sword, Piper clutching Katoptris, and Elson holding a short tree branch carved into a sharp point. He looked frightened,  
/his eyes flitting nervously around the wood, but his hands were steady.

Annabeth watched the trees warily. The forest seemed to be mimicking her, lingering, watching, waiting for something to happen. Her heart was thudding so forcefully in her chest it hurt, and her fingers were white around the hilt of the blade. She'd fought  
/monsters hundreds of times, yes, but something felt different this time. Wrong, somehow. She had a painful prickling sensation at the back of the neck, as if something very, very bad was about to happen. _Gods_ , she wished Percy was here. Just  
/his presence calmed her nerves, and the knowledge that he was close, that they were in this- whatever it was- together, made her feel stronger.

But she couldn't think like that; she _was_ strong. She shifted, scanning the woods for any sign of irregularity, but the forest was completely silent. No movement, no noise. She couldn't even hear the bristle of the trees. The forest seemed to be  
/holding its breath, waiting for an entire army to come charging through the bracken, and Annabeth held her breath with it.

And then he stepped into the clearing.

" _Luke_." she breathed.

 ** _Hope you enjoyed it if you made it this far! Don't worry, I'm going to try and stick to info that's canon, so the story line won't be too far fetched, I promise. Please review! X_**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ Heroes of Olympus.**_

 _ **It's short, but I hope you enjoy. Please review!**_

Time had frozen. It couldn't be him. It _couldn't_ be. He was dead. She had watched him die. And yet…

Annabeth felt as though the whole world had suddenly stopped moving. Her mind went blank as all her rationality and the training she'd learnt over the past ten years completely evaporated. Part of her wanted to run to him as she would have done when she was younger- wrap her arms around him and beg him to explain what happened, what went so wrong. But, thankfully, something kept her anchored in place. Something that was tugging painfully at her chest, an ache so excruciating she had to force herself to stay standing. _Grief_ , she realised. Her knees felt like jelly as she stared at the figure bathed in shadow, the boy who had been a brother to her, who had betrayed her and saved her, broken her heart and filled her with a pride so powerful it had bought tears to her eyes, in the end. _The end_ , she remembered. _He died. He died in front of me. He's gone_.

But no matter how fast her thoughts were working, it seemed her mind had no control over her mouth.

" _Luke_." she breathed, before she could stop herself. The hand that held her dagger was limp at her side, her shoulders slack with complete shock. She racked her brains for an explanation. _How is this possible?_

And then the boy took another step toward her. Moonlight filtering through the trees bathed him in an unnatural light, and her breath caught.

It wasn't him.

The man looked about twenty five; he had Luke's close-cropped sandy blonde hair, bright blue eyes and devilish smile, but still, there was something different about him. He didn't have that familiar jagged scar, for starters; he was slightly taller than Luke had been, (though with the same lean build), and there was something lurking in his eyes that made Annabeth uneasy. A darkness lingered there, something that she'd never seen in Luke, even when he was at his worst. But the most obvious difference between them was the way the man held himself. He stood before Annabeth with an air of the utmost confidence and self-assurance, and in that moment he looked nothing like the frightened, sorrowful boy that Annabeth remembered Luke to have been at the end of his days.

The man was chuckling as he stepped closer to Annabeth, who clenched her fists and stood protectively in front of the others. It wasn't that they couldn't handle themselves- she'd seen how dangerous Hazel and Piper could be countless times during battle, and Elson could be pretty damn frightening with that stick- but she felt some kind of sisterly defensiveness over her friends, and something in her gut told her that this situation was a lot more serious than they realised.

"Hello, Annabeth." the man replied, slowly. He was grinning, but his eyes were cold. "I can see why you would think I look like him, but I am not Luke."

His words shook Annabeth out of whatever reverie she'd been in. She curled her fingers tightly round the hilt of her blade and held it in front of her. "Who are you, then?" she asked, her tone sharp, "And what are you doing here?"

There was no tremor in her voice, Hazel noted, and most people would have cowered at Annabeth's tone- she could be pretty scary when she wanted to be- but the guy just laughed in her face. Hazel was starting to like him less and less.

He seemed to find Annabeth's defiance amusing. "How rude." he commented lazily, twirling a long dagger in his hand- it was like nothing Hazel had ever seen; the blade was about the length of her forearm- too long to be a knife, but too short to be a sword, and it gleamed wickedly in the moonlight. "Well, I can assure you," he continued, "I don't think you'll be using that tone with me shortly, daughter of Athena. I do not take kindly to insolent little girls." All four of the demigods were glowering at him, but he didn't seem to care. "I am not Luke," he repeated. "But I _am_ related to him. I'm his brother, Daniel Castellan."

Hazel heard Annabeth's intake of breath and tightened the grip on her sword. He'd heard about this Luke guy, and he seemed like a pretty big deal. And anyway, anything that could shock Annabeth, terrified her.

"That's not possible." For the first time since Hazel had known Annabeth, she sounded vulnerable- vulnerable and shaken. "Luke doesn't have a brother."

Something glinted in Daniel's eyes; it was an unreadable emotion, but it made Hazel want to warn Annabeth to stay away, that she was in danger. "Oh, you won't have heard of me." he replied. "I was a secret, you see. A monstrosity."

"I don't understand." Annabeth sounded younger than usual, and confusion laced her voice. "Luke never mentioned-"

"Luke didn't _know_." Daniel interrupted. "Neither did Hermes, for that matter. No. This was all my mother's doing."

"May Castellan? But-"

"You see, three years before my mother had Luke, she came into contact with Metis."

"The titan?" Piper asked, her eyebrows drawn together into a deep frown. Hazel noticed that she'd instinctively moved closer to Annabeth. "But wasn't she, like, eaten by Zeus or something?"

Daniel eyes flickered over to Piper, as if he had just notice her for the first time, and he grinned at her without amusement. "Exactly. I presume you've heard the story?" He didn't wait for an answer, and began leisurely pacing across the small clearing. "Metis was destined to have two children- a daughter, Athena, and a son- a boy who would be powerful enough to overthrow Zeus. This, of course, frightened the great ' _lord of the skies'_ , and so he turned Metis into a fly, swallowing her whole… but what Zeus didn't realise was that Metis was _already_ pregnant with Athena. She was able to fashion her daughter a helmet from within Zeus's stomach, and Athena was birthed from Zeus's head, in full battle armour." Hazel shot a worried glance at Annabeth, who was looking very pale, but her eyes didn't stray from Daniel. "Now, the thing is, Metis didn't stay in Zeus's stomach forever, contrary to popular belief. No. What most people don't realise is she escaped- aeons ago now- and has been living a life in hiding."

Hazel shifted her grip on the sword in her hand. "But didn't you say that Luke's mother met her?"

Daniel nodded. "Yes. My mother was the first person to see Metis after a very, very long time. May helped Metis find the prophecy that had been made about her- the one that foretold her son to be the most powerful man in the world, and in return, Metis gave her a gift. You see, Metis could no longer carry children, so she wanted my mother to be the one to birth this all-powerful child. May refused, and this angered Metis. She bestowed the gift on May, anyway, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving May grief-stricken with the knowledge of what her first born would be." Hazel's stomach clenched, but Daniel barrelled on.

"Shortly after she met Hermes, and fell pregnant with her first born child. She did everything she could to pretend that it hadn't happened- she didn't tell Hermes, and somehow managed to hide the pregnancy right up until the very end. You see, she didn't want anyone to know about me because she thought I was a curse, or an _abomination_." He spat the word. "She didn't appreciate or understand the gift that Metis had bestowed upon her; wouldn't even look at me. She gave me up for adoption, and pretended that I never existed, continuing her happy life with Hermes, and a couple of years later, her _new_ baby boy, Luke."

"I don't believe that." Annabeth frowned. "May must have had a pretty good reason to just give up a baby like that. She wasn't a bad person."

Daniel turned to her, and the fury in his gaze made Hazel's heart jump into her throat. "Then you didn't know her." he growled. "May Castellan _abandoned_ me; she despised me with every part of her being, and I curse the very ground she walks on!" His face had turned an angry red colour, and he was breathing heavily. Hazel eyed the way his fingers twitched over his blade warily.

"So what happened after that?" Piper asked, her voice carrying a soothing tone as she tried to diffuse Daniel's anger. It seemed to be working- the fire in his eyes cooled a little.

"Metis found me, eventually." he said, turning to Piper. "She explained to me that I was her true son, and told me what May Castellan had done. She looked after me, nurtured and cared for me, taught me to control my powers. We stayed in hiding, avoiding the outside world and the wrath of the Olympians, but after a while, I got bored. I wanted to find Luke, my brother. I wanted to meet him explain to him who I was- I didn't hold the mistakes our birth mother had made against him. Eventually, Metis went looking for him, but we were too late. She returned with the news that he was dead." His voice was sad, but the emotion didn't seem to reach his eyes. It felt, to Hazel, as if there was something almost _undead_ about him- she could sense it like a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Slowly, he turned back to Annabeth, stepping close to her. A slow, malicious grin spread across his face. "Hence… I am here. For the ones who could've saved him. I am here to avenge my brother's death.

And you, _daughter of Athena_ , will be the first to feel my wrath."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ Heroes of Olympus.**_

 _ **Enjoy:)**_

"You ready?" Percy asked, grinning. He was stood on the beach with Leo and Tyson, arms folded across his chest, as they surveyed the mighty bulk that was Leo's newest invention. It was a ship, but nothing like the Argo II; the _Paralus II_ was smaller,  
built with a shape similar to that of a large speed boat- and that was exactly what it was made for. Speed.

Leo had been working on the boat for weeks now- pouring over and perfecting the designs before working tireless hours with the Hephaestus cabin to get it built. They had been using Bunker 9 as a workspace for the ship, and finally, _finally_ it was  
finished.

"I was born ready." Leo replied, rubbing his hands together. His eyes held the familiar wicked gleam they always did when he was about to do something crazy, and he had a smudge of dirt across his cheek from greasing the deck stands.

Percy laughed. "Awesome. Let's do this."

The boat was only built for a small crew, so Leo and Percy had opted to try it out on their own, for safety reasons- it seemed only rational with Leo being the engineer of the ship, and Percy being unable to drown. They clambered on, and Percy lingered  
patiently whilst Leo did a few final checks. As he waited, Percy leant against the ship's rail and looked over his shoulder at Frank, (who had now joined Tyson on the beach), giving them a thumbs up. Tyson waved back too over-enthusiastically and  
ended up accidently smacking Frank in the face, which made Percy chuckle, but his smile faltered lightly as he spotted the small group of spectators starting to arrive toward the back of the beach. Underneath all their talk and joking around, Leo  
and Percy were both anxious that something might go wrong on the experimental vessel.

"I think we're starting to draw a crowd, Leo." Percy commented dryly.

The smaller boy looked up, wearing an impish grin and spinning his spanner round precariously. "Oh, that's just me. I have that kind of impact."

Percy found himself scanning the throng of people, looking for that familiar curly blonde head, and had to remind himself that Annabeth wasn't there. For some reason, he hadn't been able to shake the unnerving feeling that something weird was going on,  
and had been consequently worrying about his girlfriend since she'd set off for Portland that morning. It was stupid, he knew. Annabeth and the others were only on a simple excursion to retrieve some demigods, and it wasn't like she couldn't handle  
herself- Percy knew that from experience. Plus, she had Piper and Hazel with her, so she'd be _fine_. But still… something didn't stick right with him. Begrudgingly, he wondered if it was some kind of after-effect from everything they'd been  
through. He hoped not. Everyone would just get sick of him if he turned into some paranoid weirdo.

He sighed, running a hand through his unruly hair as he his thoughts returnedto that morning; just before Annabeth had leaned in to kiss him goodbye, she'd ruffled it, laughing that he'd let it get way too long. _And she was right, as always_ ,  
he thought, as he recalled the feeling of her fingers running through his hair, _I'm in desperate need for a trim_.

Leo stood up, breaking Percy's train of thought. He wiped one hand on his trousers, tapping the deck stand with the other. Percy knew _he_ was hyperactive, but Leo was another level. "I think she's ready!" He gave Percy a mock-salute. "After you,  
captain."

Percy rolled his eyes and headed to the hull. Leo, filled with nervous energy, followed him, and pressed a button to start the ship up, grabbing the wheel. The vessel started to move, and Percy could immediately feel the hum of the sea underneath the  
wooden flooring, calming him and washing his worries away.

"Hold on tight!" Leo said. He looked slightly demented- the sea breeze messing up his curly hair and his eyes alight with excitement. Percy grabbed the railing closest to him as Leo flicked another switch- this one was larger and redder, and looked like  
one of those _Do not push me!_ Buttons that Percy was always itching to touch. Now, faced with Leo's manic grin, he wasn't so sure. The two boys braced themselves, and Percy's stomach lurched as Leo shouted, " _Here we go_!"

And then the Paralus II burst forward through the sea, speeding out across the body of water; Percy was sure he'd never moved so fast- it was like being on a jet plane. He could feel his subconscious urging him to slow the ship down- his body's automatic  
reaction to control the speed of the vessel, but he ignored it, allowing himself to enjoy this moment of freedom, as he let go of everything. He could hear Leo laughing next to him- with relief, with exhilaration, he wasn't sure- but he found himself  
joining in, cheering to the winds as the boat flew them across the water. For the first time in a long time, he felt free.

Camp half blood was long gone, as they cruised along the coast. They'd been driving for the majority of the afternoon, but they were coming up to the border of Canada now, which was incredible; they must have been moving at the speed of an aeroplane,  
but it hadn't felt like they were unstable at all.

Percy couldn't hide his amazement at Leo's engineering. "Man, this is unbelievably cool. Your construction's actually awesome." he said nonchalantly, as they relaxed on the leather seats Leo had installed, drinking cans of root beer.

Leo laughed awkwardly, the tips of his ears turning red, but Percy could tell he was pleased with himself. He held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, the mini fridge was Nyssa's idea, not mine."

"I see." Percy grinned. "I guess she's the real talent here."

They sat in silence for a little while, watching the view of the coast and sipping their drinks. Percy would have loved to stay late and watch the sunset, but he was desperate to get back to camp to see if Annabeth had got home from her quest- strictly  
speaking, they weren't due back till the next evening, but that was really only if something went wrong; plus, that weird feeling still hadn't left him. _Maybe Annabeth will watch the sunset with me, sometime,_ he thought, _when she gets back._

"We better head home." Percy said, glancing at the clock on the censor control.

"You're right." Leo replied, turning the boat in an impressive U-turn. "Annabeth would kill a certain someone if he wasn't back there to meet her."

Percy smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. He suddenly felt restless, impatient to get back to shore, to Annabeth. He caught himself tapping anxiously on the boat's side, but Leo didn't seem to notice.

"-wonder if Piper will come running dramatically over to me," he was saying, "since Jason's not here and all. I'm looking forward to the dramatic reunion…" Jason was away at Camp Jupiter; he often went there to help Reyna out with things, sometimes taking  
a couple of others with him, like Frank, Hazel, Leo or Piper. The camps were interconnected nowadays, with borders open to both Greeks and Romans, and it really felt like they were all one big- but slightly dysfunctional- family. Though, that wasn't  
to say they didn't have their hiccups.

"Can this thing go any faster?" Percy asked.

He didn't mean his voice to sound sharp, but Leo glanced at him uncertainly. "Er… yeah, sure. Hold on." he fiddled with some controls next to the wheel, and the boat put on another burst of speed, bumping over the water. Leo eyed Percy's fists, which  
were clenched tightly in his lap, and the turbulent look in his eyes. It was moments like this that Leo could see what people meant when they said Percy looked exactly like his father- he hadn't met Poseidon often, but he could see the sea brewing  
in his son's eyes.

"You okay?" he asked, keeping his voice relaxed as he steered the boat.

"Yeah." Percy lied, dragging his eyes away from the horizon to glance at Leo. "Just a weird feeling, is all." He didn't seem to want to elaborate, so they drove back to Camp Half-blood in silence.

As soon as the boat moored, Percy hopped off. Tyson, Frank and the crowd of people had long-since dispersed, (probably realising that the two boys weren't coming back any time soon), but Percy couldn't help but feel like the camp was too empty. All of  
a sudden, it felt deadly silent. _Stop it_ , he chided himself. _Stop freaking yourself out._ He took a deep breath.

"Man, I bet Annabeth's dying to see you." Leo said, slapping him on the shoulder as he hopped off the boat. "Don't stress." It was a small comfort, but Percy was suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of gratitude for the kid. He was a good friend, even if he  
didn't quite understand Percy's sudden mood swings.

"Thanks, Valdez. And… well done for today. You should be proud."

Leo smiled; he looked like he wanted to say more, but settled for throwing Percy a grateful smile, and together they made their way up the beach to meet their friends.

 **Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ Heroes of Olympus._**

 ** _This ones a little longer! And a little more action packed. Hope you like it, but warning it's a lil darker._**

 _"_ _And you, daughter of Athena, will be the first to feel my wrath."_

It seemed Daniel's threat was the final straw. Elton- the brave, stupid satyr that he was- surged past Annabeth and aimed his stick right at the demigod's chest- but Daniel was too fast. The satyr went flailing through the air and smashed into tree, slumping onto the ground; he didn't get up.

" _Elton_!" Hazel shouted from behind Annabeth, at the same time that Piper lunged at Daniel with her knife - but once again, he beat her to it. With movements quicker than Annabeth had ever seen on a demigod, he knocked the dagger out of Piper's hand and pressed a single finger to her forehead, his eyes flashing with anger.

Piper crumpled like paper. She fell to the floor, her body trembling as she clutched her head between her hands in agony.

And then the screaming started.

Her head was thrown back, her eyes rolling into her head as she screamed and screamed. Annabeth's heart jumped into her throat and she knelt beside her friend, holding her tightly.

"What have you done to her?" shrieked Annabeth, flinging around to face Daniel. "Let her _go_!"

He just laughed, looking mildly amused. "The stupid girl shouldn't have attacked me. Your mother isn't the only goddess of wisdom, Annabeth, and I'm not stupid. I can sense when people are about to strike."

Piper continued to jerk around, squirming with pain. "What are you doing?" Hazel asked, her eyes wide. "Please, just leave her alone!"

Daniel laughed. "You don't get it, do you? My mother, Metis, happens to know a thing or two about mind control. Oh, I'm nowhere near as good as her, but she taught me a few things over the years." He clicked his fingers, and Piper's screams rose an octave; she was flung from Annabeth's grip, her body convulsing in the dirt.

Desperate tears stung Annabeth's eyes as she watched the girl writhing with pain. Guilt was searing through her veins- the others had wanted to go back to camp. This was all her fault. _She_ was to blame for Piper's pain. "STOP IT!" she begged him. " _Please_! We'll do what you want! Just… let her go."

He smiled, finally satisfied, and shrugged. "As you wish." And, with a click of his fingers, Piper's screams cut off. She huddled in a ball, quietly sobbing on the ground. Hazel knelt next to her, muttering soothing words as Annabeth got shakily to her feet, wiping the tears from her eyes. Anger like she'd never felt consumed her as she stared into the eyes of the cold, soulless man in front of her. She'd never wanted to kill someone as much as she did at that very moment.

"Now. What do you want from us?" Annabeth asked, clenching her fists. She was itching to fight this man, but knew it was hopeless. No sword training in the world could fight the magic Daniel was using. And if his so called 'mother' was even more powerful, they were in big trouble. She needed to get back to camp to warn the others.

"You'll see. But for now you will come with me and do as I tell you. I have a plan for all of you."

"And if we don't come with you?"

His eyes flashed. "Disobey me and I will kill you all. Starting with your friends back at that stupid camp."

Annabeth thought it over. If they tried to fight now, they'd all end up captured anyway, or worse. She thought about their options- the highest chance of survival they had was to get a message to camp. But how could they do that? Behind her, Hazel had set Piper against the base of a tree and was checking on Elson- Piper looked pale and shaken up, but otherwise okay; Elson, however, still wasn't moving. Annabeth felt a pang of worry reverberate through her chest. "Fine." she said, eventually, turning away from her friends. "We'll come with you." Hazel shot her a panicked look. Her eyes asked, ' _what are you doing?_ ', but Annabeth ignored her. "But first," she continued, "I want to make sure my team are alright."

Daniel smirked. "Whatever. Do what you have to do."

Annabeth turned around and made her way over to Elson, where Hazel was kneeling beside him; the Satyr had a deep gash in his head, which she was bandaging with gentle hands, but he was breathing, which was good.

Annabeth braced herself, glancing nervously at Daniel, who was leaning against a dying tree. "Look, Hazel, I need you to shadow travel away from here." she whispered.

" _What_?" Hazel hissed, her golden eyes blazing defiantly. "Are you crazy? I _won't_ leave you and Piper here with that-"

"You have to." Annabeth insisted. "It's the only way we can get out of here alive. Go to camp. Tell Percy-"

"No." Hazel interrupted. "There has to be another way, Annabeth, I-"

Annabeth's voice was firm. "There _is_ no other way. Look, I've thought about it. It's our only chance. Piper and Elson aren't fit to fight or make a run for it, and for all we know, they've got us surrounded. Please, Hazel. You have to do this for me."

Hazel held her gaze for a long time, before, finally, she relented. "Okay, fine. I'll do it."

"Good." Annabeth visibly relaxed, but her eyes were still filled with tension. "When I tell you to go, I want you to sneak off into the forest without looking back. Get to camp and try and work out what's going on here- make sure you know how many people Metis has up her sleeve before you return, and _please_ don't let Percy just go rushing into this- I know what he's like. Jason too."

Hazel nodded, sniffing. "Okay. Should we involve Camp Jupiter?"

Annabeth's hesitated. "I'm not sure how far they'll _want_ to be involved," The ties between the two camps were still a little flimsy, despite what everyone wanted to believe. No one was entirely sure how far the Roman's loyalty stretched. "… but get Reyna's help, if you can. She'll be able to come up with a good strategy and keep a cool head."

"You're right. And don't worry about the Romans. I'm sure they'll help us- Frank and I will persuade them."

Annabeth looked grave. "I hope so." She said, then hesitated. "And… Hazel?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell Percy… tell him that I love him."

Hazel nodded, and her eyes suddenly shone with tears. "Of course I will." she whispered. "And if I don't get another chance to day it, good luck, Annabeth. I'll see you soon."

Annabeth stood as Hazel went back to tending to Elton's wounds; her curly head was bent over the Satyr, but Annabeth could see her wiping away the stray tears with the back of her hand.

She swallowed down the lump that arose in her throat as she spotted Piper slumped against the tree; the girl was always so strong, so full of light, that it hurt Annabeth to see her so broken.

"Hey Pipes." she called softly, sitting next to her. Like Annabeth, she had dirt smudged across her face, and her hair had fallen messily out of her pony tail.

"Hey." Her voice was hoarse and cracked and her eyes red from crying, but she still managed a smile that didn't quite meet her eyes.

"How are you feeling?" Annabeth's forehead creased into a frown as she tried to read the emotion in Piper's eyes; she seemed frightened and lost.

"I'm fine, don't worry." she said dismissively, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Have you got a plan?"

Annabeth grimaced. "Not really. I think we'll just have to stick it out for a while, but don't worry. I won't let him hurt you again."

Piper nodded mutely, but her eyes filled with tears. "Oh Gods, Annabeth. It was awful. It's as though he can play on your biggest fear, see right in your mind, and the pain in my head… I've never felt anything like it."

Tears spilled over her cheeks and Annabeth pulled her into a hug, stroking her dark hair. "Hey, don't cry." She was reminded of the day they'd first met, when Piper had cried over Jason at camp half blood. So much had changed since then; Piper was like a sister to her now, and it hurt to know she'd caused this. "I'm so sorry, Pipes. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you before, and I'm sorry for what happened. I know I'm to blame for all this."

"'Snot your fault." Piper replied, her voice muffled. "I was the weak one for giving up. You've always been resilient, Annabeth. I know you'll help us through it."

Annabeth wasn't sure if it was Piper's gift of persuasion, or whether they were just the things she needed to hear, but the words instilled confidence in her. She felt stronger somehow, more sure of herself. They _would_ get through this, all of them. Together.

Annabeth turned to see Daniel was standing now, talking to four dracaena women. Her heart thundered- she hadn't even seen them arrive- but her mind worked quickly. "Okay, Piper. I need you to help me distract him. Can you do that?"

"Sure I can." She sat up, taking a deep breath, and Annabeth had to admire her bravery. "What do you want me to do?"

Piper sauntered over to Daniel, plastering him with a full-beamed smile and biting down the nausea it gave her to do so. "Hey there! So, I've been thinking, and I wanted to talk to you about something."

He frowned, glancing suspiciously over to where Annabeth and Hazel were talking in low voices to a now-conscious Elson, before looking her up and down. "I see you've recovered." he muttered. "What did you want to discuss, then… _girl_?" he said the word like it left a sour taste in his mouth.

She laughed a very un-Piper-like laugh, flicking her hair over her shoulder in a Drew-like manner. "Well, I see that you're obviously pretty decided that you're gonna take us back to this Metias lady or whatever-"

"Yes. My mother, _Metis_. So?"

"So, I was _wondering_ , if maybe you'd re _-_ think your offer." She placed a hand on his arm, smiling, and he tensed, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

She suddenly wondered if she'd gone too far, but then he relaxed, laughing a horrible, harsh laugh. The Dracaena ladies laughed with him, their forked tongues flickering as they hissed. He pushed Piper's arm away. "You're not getting out of this one _that_ easily, girl. I'm taking the lot of you to my mother, no question about it."

"But, what about if you just let _one_ of us free. Me, for instance? What use is a child of Aphrodite to you?" Piper didn't like slagging off her mother, but she knew that Daniel would never be open-minded enough to see past the stereotypical traits of what Aphrodite stood for.

He snorted. "And let you go running off to warn that camp of yours. In your dreams, princess. Now run along."

"But… _please_?" She put all the power she could muster into the word, batting her eyelids and ignoring the way Daniel's beetle-like eyes made her skin crawl.

For a moment, he hesitated, but then he shook his head, as if fighting her persuasive power. "I said _no_. Don't make me tell you again."

" _Yess, run alongggg_." One of the Dracaena hissed.

Piper faltered, sending a panicky look towards Annabeth. He was getting annoyed- they had to act soon.

She took a deep breath. "You know… you're actually pretty hot for an older guy."

His eyebrows drew together. "'For an older guy?'"

She giggled, pretending to blush, but the act was failing miserably, she knew. _Annabeth, hurry!_ she thought. "Oh, you know what I mean."

He frowned deeply. "I don't think I do."

"Well… _some_ older guys can-"

Piper was interrupted as one of the dracaena let out an outraged shriek.

"What is it?" Daniel asked, immediately alerted.

The dracaena lifted a gnarled finger. " _It is the ssssmall one! She isss getting away_!"

Hazel had placed her hands on the ground and was drawing power from it, preparing herself for the journey. Camp half-blood was a pretty long way from here, and she needed all the energy she could get- but time was running out. She watched as Piper shot Annabeth a panicked look, and the blonde's forehead creased into a frown.

"You ready, Hazel?" Annabeth asked, trying to hide the worry in her voice.

"No." the younger girl admitted with a sigh, "but it will have to do." She pulled her hands away from the dirt, immediately missing the feeling of strength that filled her body.

"Right." Annabeth said. "Your best chance is probably through the trees behind us- they seem to have the clearest run. Slowly walk towards them, and then make a run for it. You know what to do from there."

Elson nodded, though it seemed to pain him to do so, and he winced. "You'll be great Hazel. Don't look back."

Hazel smiled at him. "Thanks, Elson. You're the bravest fawn I know." He beamed at her as she stood up from her crouch, placing a hand on Annabeth's shoulder. She hesitated before speaking. "Be strong, Annabeth. We'll come and find you… I swear it." Her eyes looked so old on her young face at that moment, full of wisdom and time, that Annabeth really wanted to believe her.

She smiled. "I know you will. Good luck, Hazel."

And with that, Hazel turned and started walking to the trees.

As soon as the Dracaena let out a screech, Hazel was running, tripping over roots in her rush to make it out the forest. Annabeth stood protectively over Elson, her knife drawn, as Daniel descended on her, Piper and the dracaena scrambling to keep up. He had drawn his curved, sharp-edged sword and it glimmered darkly in the moonlight, flickering like the forked tongue of the dracaena. She braced herself, preparing for battle, but instead, Daniel surprised her by grabbing the neck of her t-shirt and pulling her forcefully towards him.

"WHERE IS SHE GOING?" he bellowed. Terror shot through Annabeth's heart as she took in the pure uncontrolled rage in his face, but she bit it down. Now wasn't the time to let fear control her.

"Go to hell." she told him.

He let out a roar and released her. She stumbled slightly, but before she could even register what was happening, his hands held her head in a vice-like grip. He closed his eyes, and it felt like a wave of pure power had broken over her thoughts as his influence washed over her. _Tell me,_ he snarled in her mind.

She gasped as a force like a fist tugged the thoughts from her head and the words out of her mouth. " _She's shadow travelling… to the camp_." she gasped.

He let out an explosion of frustration, slamming his fist into the closest tree, and splintering the wood. "Search the forest!" he ordered the dracaena, "And kill _any_ demigod you find there!"

Annabeth clenched her fists to contain her fury. "Hazel's long gone. You'll never find her." she spat.

He glared at her, but she met his gaze; she refused to act afraid of this bully. Because at the end of the day, that's all he was. An abusive, evil, bully. "You think you're _so_ clever, don't you?" he snarled. "But I told you what would happen if you disobeyed me!"

As quick as a flash, Daniel grabbed Elson by his t-shirt and bought down his sword, stabbing the satyr in the chest.

" _No_!" Piper and Annabeth screamed at the same time. Elson didn't have chance to speak before the light had left his eyes, and he'd transformed into a small morning glory plant, wrapping around the base of the nearest tree. Annabeth felt like someone had punched her in the gut. She wanted to kill Daniel, to swing at him, _anything_ \- but she knew it was no use. It wouldn't bring Elson back. Oh gods. _Elson_. The sweet, brave little satyr who'd charged Daniel just for threatening Annabeth. And now he was gone. She couldn't help but feel it was another death on her hands.

"Piper, don't." she muttered to the younger girl, who was wrapping her fingers dangerously around the hilt of her dagger. "It's not worth it."

"Your friend's right." Daniel said, amusement dancing darkly in his eyes. Annabeth glared at him, but he ignored her. "You've already learnt from that mistake, pretty one."

He turned to the dracaena. "Blindfold them, and let's get out of here. I've had enough drama for one day, and I believe they've learnt their lesson. _Right_ girls?" He was happier now, acting all chirpy now that Elson was dead. Annabeth was disgusted.

So was Piper, it seemed; she swore at him, her eyes filled with hate.

Daniel raised his eyebrows. "Oh, how unladylike! You'll soon learn some respect, dear, don't you worry."

The dracaena pulled dark blindfolds from their belts and wrapped them around Annabeth and Piper's eyes, before tying their wrists behind their backs. They each grabbed a forearm, their grips pinching, and started marching the girls through the forest.

"You'll soon get to meet my mother." Daniel said. "Just you wait."

 **Please, please, please review if you get this far! Really want some input- any ideas are helpful!**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ Heroes of Olympus.**_

 ** _Hope you like it! Please review if you want to read more :)_**

Leo and Percy made their way past the pavilion, which was deserted except for the campers on cleaning duty, who were busy stacking plates. They threw Percy unreadable glances as he walked past- glances that did nothing to calm the uneasy feeling bubbling in the bottom of his stomach. For the first time in his life, he didn't really care that he'd missed dinnertime, and Leo- who was always the first kid at the Hephaestus table- must have felt the same, since he didn't say a word.

The camp felt weirdly deserted, and Percy figured most of the campers had headed back to their cabins, (capture the flag had been cancelled because of the quest), so they boys headed over to the big house.

They immediately knew something was wrong.

Dionysus, Chiron, Rachel and Nico were sat on the porch of the big house, and all of their expressions, (bar Dionysus, who was casually sipping a can of coke and counting his drachma), were filled with a mixture of worry and fear. Nico paled when he saw Percy; they obviously hadn't expected him to be back so soon.

"What's up?" Percy asked, frowning. He tried to read at their disturbed faces. "Where are Annabeth and the others?"

They exchanged glances, but said nothing.

"What's going on, Chiron?" Percy pressed, turning his attention to the centaur. His stomach was twisting into knots. He needed answers.

Chiron sighed, watching him carefully with sombre brown eyes. "It appears… it appears that they have not yet returned home, Percy."

The information took a moment to settle in, but he swallowed down the panic rising in his throat, trying to stay calm. Why did they all look so uneasy? Officially, Annabeth, Hazel, Piper and Elson weren't due back until the next evening. "Okay... but that's not necessarily a bad thing, right? I mean, they could just be taking a little longer than usual."

"Percy, they haven't sent us any type of message." Nico explained, his eyes dark with worry. He was fingering his stygian iron blade delicately with his hands. "And you know Annabeth wouldn't leave us waiting."

"So… what?" Percy asked, impatient. "What are you saying?"

Rachel, who had been sitting quietly, glanced at Chiron, who nodded. Slowly, she stood and walked down the steps towards him. His felt his eyes narrow with suspicion as she placed a hand on his arm, her eyes full of concern. "Percy… Chiron and I… we have both felt something- something _wrong_. We think that maybe..." She took a deep breath. "Maybe something could have happened."

"Like what?" Percy asked, his voice strained. He could feel that familiar panic, mixed with anger, sizzling through his body like fire. His ears were ringing. He couldn't, _wouldn't_ , lose Annabeth again. He didn't think he could survive it this time.

Rachel shook her head. "I don't know. All we can do is wait and hope that-"

"Hope that _what_?" Percy growled, suddenly jerking back to reality. "That they come back alive?" He pulled away from her, ignoring the flash of hurt in her eyes.

"Percy-"

"No, Rachel. I won't just sit here whilst Annabeth is out there in trouble! And I _know_ Jason and Frank won't too."

"I won't what?" came a voice. They swiveled around as Frank appeared, wearing a smile. It fell as he saw the looks on the others faces. "Oh gods," he said, "What's happened?"

Chiron explained what Rachel had told Percy, and he watched as Frank's face hardened. "Percy's right." he said immediately. "We have to go and get them."

"Finally, someone speaking sense." Percy muttered. He waited for Annabeth to roll her eyes at him for his sulky tone, or to say " _shut up, seaweed brain_ ," but it never came. His heart hammered painfully in his chest and he turned away to avoid the other's gazes.

To everyone's surprise, it was Nico who spoke up. "I agree with Percy." he admitted. "We can't let anything happen to any of them- including my sister. We need to make a plan, find out where they're being taken…"

But he trailed off as something caught his eye, and they all turned in time to see the flicker of movement, before Hazel seemed to morph from the shadowy grey sky. She arrived at a run, stumbling a few steps before collapsing on the grass, breathing heavily.

"Hazel!" Frank exclaimed, running to her. She was plastered with sweat, her body trembling from exhaustion. "What is it?" Frank asked desperately. "What's happened?"

"He's… taken… them." she hissed, through labored breaths.

Percy was by her side immediately, as was Nico, his face etched with worry. "What do you mean Hazel? Who's taken who?"

"It's…" But before she could finish, her eyes fluttered, and she passed out in Frank's arms.

Frank carried her into the big house with Chiron and Leo, and Nico ran off to grab Will Solace. Percy sat down heavily on the front steps of the porch, his head in his hands. He'd _known_ something was wrong. Why hadn't he listened to his gut and gone on that quest? If Annabeth was hurt in anyway, it would be all his fault.

Rachel looked at him sadly. "I'm going to head back to the cave, try and see if I can work out where they've been taken." she said, looking as if she was going to touch his shoulder, but thinking better of it. "I'm… I'm sorry Percy." she whispered, and had set off at a jog before he could respond.

His head was pounding, his thoughts a mess. Hazel _must_ have been talking about Annabeth, Piper and Elson, which meant something had happened to them. He thought of Annabeth's easy grin as she'd kissed him goodbye, the sparkle in her grey eyes as she'd turned and waved from the passenger seat of Argus's truck, the way his heart had flipped as he'd watched her leave. It hurt to think that she was in trouble. And, Piper, too. She was one of his best friends- kind, charming, endearingly funny. Oh _Gods_ , he would have to tell Jason that she was in trouble. _But that's good,_ he thought to himself. _At least we can go get them together. For all that Grace is, he's not a quitter. I'll Iris message him first thing in the morning._ Then they could set off as soon as he got back. He took a deep breath, but it was hard to control his building anger; if anyone had hurt Annabeth, he'd drown them with his bare hands. God's knew she'd already been through enough without another monster laying their filthy hands on her.

A breezy voice broke through his reverie. "Planning your heroic rescue, I presume?"

Percy had forgotten Dionysus was there- he'd been so caught up in his thoughts. He'd found himself doing that more often these days- slipping away into darker places. But Annabeth had known that; she'd always managed to bring him to the light.

"What do you care, Mr D?" Percy asked, though not angrily. He just sounded tired. He felt tired, too. "When have you ever cared about demigods?"

He could sense the god raising his eyebrows. "I don't think you mean that, Parker. I think you have seen me do many honourable things for heroes over the years. Yes, I do not always speak of them fondly, because I do not look on many of them fondly. But after all, my son, Castor, was a demigod. As is Pollux. And I have been known to aid your kind before- in fact, Paolo, I believe there have been many times where I've aided _you_ personally."

"Mr D, I'm not in the mood for games. If you know anything, just tell me. Otherwise you're wasting your time."

There was a pause, and Percy waited to be blasted into smithereens, or turned into a grapevine for his insolence- but to his surprise, Dionysus just sighed.

"I have felt what you are feeling now, many times before, demigod." he said softly, "That despair, that uncaring. You've been falling; I can sense it, like I once sensed it in your friend, Nico. Well, let me tell you what I told him- those feelings, those thoughts, they're dangerous. They are what make you a target, vulnerable for an attack. And whoever's doing this… well, let me tell you, Pierce, they want you vulnerable."

Percy sighed internally; his head was starting to hurt. "Thanks for the heads up." he muttered.

Dionysus smirked. "Trust me, it will come in handy one day. But, about that blonde girl, Annabelle, and her friend… I have reason to believe that they're still close to the area they travelled to, that they've been taken to the North- and one person who knows everything that goes on in the North is Aparctias. If anyone knows where your friends are, it'll be him."

Percy's head shot up. "Taken? By who? And how do you know they're in the-"

But he was alone; Dionysus had disappeared, leaving only an empty coke can.

"She'll be okay." Will was saying, as Percy entered the room where Hazel was resting in the big house- _the same place Annabeth fed you Nectar for the first time,_ a voice whispered in the back of his mind, _the first time you laid eyes on her, all those years ago_ … he shook his head, blocking out his thoughts. Worry and lack of sleep was making him crazy. "-just needs to sleep it off."

Frank was nodding, stood at the bottom of the bed with Chiron, his arms crossed, and Nico sat beside her, holding her hand. Leo hung awkwardly by the doorframe; Percy got the feeling he felt he was intruding.

"I've got a name." he announced to the room. "Aparticus."

Frank frowned. "And you know this… how?"

Percy hesitated. "Doesn't matter."

Frank looked like he wanted to say more, but Leo jumped to the rescue.

"First things first," he said, looking around at them all "If we're going to have a quest, who's going to go?"

"I'm in." Nico said immediately. His eyes were dark and unreadable as he watched his sleeping sister. "I'll kill whoever took them."

"So will I." Percy said. "I'm going."

Leo nodded- everyone had expected that. "Frank?" he asked.

Frank glanced at the sleeping form of his girlfriend. "If Hazel feels better, I will. I expect she'll want to go too."

"Okay, cool." Leo rubbed his hands together. "So, with Jason, that's what… six?"

"That's a lot of people." Frank agreed. He glanced at Chiron. 'What do you think?"

Chiron looked pained. "I know you have all done so before, but breaking the three-to-a-quest rule is very dangerous. I would highly advise against-"

Percy turned to him, his green eyes blazing. "Chiron, it's going to take more than three of us to defeat whoever has taken our friends, I can tell you that now. Anyone who is powerful enough to capture Annabeth and Piper, two of the strongest, bravest demigods out there, is powerful enough to fight three of us. We all need to work together, I'm sure of it."

Chiron still looked wary, but he patted the boys shoulder. "I… I trust in your judgement, Percy. Now, try and get some sleep. Tomorrow we will consult the oracle."

Percy nodded, but he had a sinking feeling sleep wasn't going to come easily.


	6. Chapter 6

Piper wasn't sure how long they stumbled through the forest, tripping over roots and having cold remarks hissed in their ears by the dracaena. It could have been hours or minutes, but Piper was numb to it all. Elton's sudden death made her feel like someone  
had thrown a bucket of ice cold water over her, and it had frozen her heart. As the dracaena shoved her roughly to and throw, she felt nothing.

Eventually, they were shoved in the back of what could only be a truck- someone took their weapons, and threw them onto the hard floor, so they had no choice but to land hard on their stomachs without their hands there to brace themselves. Their backpacks  
were thrown in after them. Piper heard the distinct hissing of the dracaena's laugh before the doors slammed shut, a heavy chain rattled, and then there was silence- the only sound her and Annabeth's breathing.

"You okay?" Annabeth whispered. The familiarity of her voice thawed Piper's heart a little. She was not alone in this, she remembered.

"Alright. You?"

"Never better."

Piper had to smile; it seemed over the years, Annabeth had picked up some of Percy's dry humour- the thought was refreshing, and a little bit comforting.

They fell quiet as the truck's engine roared to life, and Piper heard Annabeth shift beside her. "Hold still," she muttered. "I'm getting us out of these hand ties." There was a long stretch of silence as Annabeth shifted around, cursing. Finally she  
let out a breath of relief. "Right, your turn." She quickly got to work untying the tight knots binding Piper's hands together, and then helped her pull off the blindfold.

"Better?" she asked.

Piper blinked at the darkness as her eyes adjusted. Annabeth sat in front of her, crossed legged- her clothes were a little torn, she had a long scratch along her forehead, and her blonde hair was a curly mess, strewn with leaves and bits of dirt, but  
she was smiling. Piper was sure she looked about as worse for wear, and her fears were confirmed when Annabeth pulled a leaf from her hair- her grey eyes sparkling, and her features settled into a smirk.

"You look great, McClean." she commented sarcastically.

Piper laughed- but it sounded hollow and strange to her ears. "You don't look so bad yourself, Chase." she replied. "Do you know where we're headed?"

Annabeth sighed, her grey eyes losing their sparkle as she was bought back to reality; Piper felt guilty for being the one to break the façade that everything was okay, but they both knew it wasn't. "I'm not sure. We arrived in Portland yesterday, and  
I'd say the dracaena led us for maybe five miles? It's hard to say, but now I'd guess we're maybe heading North- though I have no idea where or why. I'm pretty sure there are no known monster hideouts North of Portland- I mean, the Canadian border  
is known to be a monster-free zone. I don't understand what..." She frowned. "…Unless…"

Piper knew that look. "Unless what?" she prompted.

"Well, Daniel said we were going to meet Metis right, and if she really _is_ in hiding, then a monster-free area would be the perfect place to stay off the radar."

"Which means…?" questioned Piper.

Annabeth met her gaze. "It means it's going to make it _really_ hard for Percy and the others to find us." she admitted.

Piper swallowed, absorbing that piece of information. "Okay. But, that doesn't mean all is lost, right? I mean, it's not as if Percy and the others don't know what they're doing. I hate to say it Annabeth- but your boyfriend is the most powerful, and  
stubborn, demigod I've ever seen."

Annabeth hesitated. "…That's what I'm afraid of. Percy… he's been known to slip. You know how he can be sometimes…"

"Terrifying." Piper agreed. "But as long as that anger of his is aimed at Metis and Daniel, then I think we're good."

Annabeth didn't look convinced, and Piper got the feeling she was worrying about her boyfriend- which was seriously messed up given the situation they were in.

"So," she said, changing the subject. "Who _is_ this Metis lady? I only know her as the mother of Athena."

Annabeth's gaze darkened. "I- like everyone else it seemed- didn't even realise she was still around. She was meant to be a titan- and a powerful one at that. Very manipulative, and could talk her way around almost anything. She was a goddess of wisdom,  
you see- that's what Daniel meant when he mentioned my mother wasn't the only wisdom goddess. But where Athena is all about strategy, and working for the greater good, Metis was- or is- selfish. She looks out for herself and uses really powerfully  
mind control to get what she wants. That stuff that Daniel did to you- I can bet that's nothing compared to Metis's abilities."

Piper paled. "Wonderful."

Annabeth pursed her lips. "I know. She's not a force to be reckoned with."

Piper frowned. "But if what Daniel said is true… if she bought him up, acted as his mother…"

"It would have been for her own benefit, I'm sure. She probably wanted to use him as her pawn- that 'all-powerful' son of hers. Trust me, a titan is not capable of love."

There was a definitive tone to Annabeth's voice that Piper knew there was no point arguing with. Suddenly she felt bone weary with tiredness; she grabbed her backpack, which looked as if it had been rifled through- probably the dracaena searching for  
more weapons- and rested her head on it, curling up in a ball. "I'm gonna get some sleep." she whispered, yawning. "You should do the same."

Annabeth nodded absently, but Piper got the feeling it would be a long time before the blonde girl slept.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ Heroes of Olympus.**_

 _ **Please review!**_

Like he'd predicted it would be, Percy's night was restless. He tossed and turned, unable to get rid of the image of Annabeth, lying on a blood-stained floor, her eyes rolled back in her head, a gaping wound pouring blood from her chest…

He woke up, panting.

Tyson was snoring, as always- he'd been asleep when Percy had stumbled into the cabin, and he hadn't had the heart to wake the cyclops to tell him the news. Plus, Tyson's inevitable sobs were sure to wake the whole camp up, and Percy sure as hell didn't  
want to be the reason for that. Clovis would kill him.

Sighing, he pushed himself out of bed and padded over to where his old trainers rested against the cabin door. He needed to clear his head.

The walk down to the beach was cool but pleasant, and as soon as the sea breeze hit him, Percy felt more relaxed. It did nothing to calm the torrent of worry spiralling in his gut, but at least the sound of the sea stilled the agonized thumping of his  
heart, and cleared his head a little. And for that, he was thankful.

Unceremoniously, he sat down on one of the sand dunes, letting the calm of the water wash over him, trying desperately to forget. Forget the worry, the anger, and forget that image of Annabeth that seemed to be engraved in his mind. She had never once  
given up on him when he was missing- he knew that- but it was as though all the _what if_ 's were sneaking their way in, taking it in turns to stab him in the heart.

He should have told her he loved her.

Why didn't he? It wasn't as though she didn't know it, that they hadn't said it before- and just as she'd left, swinging her backpack over her shoulder, had been the perfect time. He wished he could go back; instead of grinning at her like an idiot when  
she pressed her lips to his, he should have kissed her back harder, looked right into her eyes and said the words so forcefully she'd never forget them.

Or even better- he wouldn't have let her go. Not that Annabeth would ever listen to him, of course, but the least he could have done was tried. Demanded to go instead, told Leo that Tyson would try out his boat with him- done _anything_ , anything  
at all that wouldn't mean he would be sat here wondering, whilst she was out there feeling horribly alone.

He'd _promised_ , so long ago, that he'd never lose her again. Now look at where he was.

On the other side of-

"Hello, Percy."

Percy jumped as he heard the voice, as deep and compelling as the ocean- but, in actual fact, he wasn't the least bit surprised to find his father here, and he realised- with a start- that it was the reason he'd probably come out to the beach. He knew  
he'd find Poseidon here, sitting down calmly next to him on the sand dune. Somehow, he knew that his father wanted to talk.

He wanted to talk too.

"Hi, Dad."

There was a silence as he felt Poseidon watching him, his face etched with concern. Finally, Percy met his gaze, and he felt a swell of emotion as he saw the empathy in his father's eyes.

He looked away again.

"Percy…" Poseidon trailed off, not knowing quite what to say, or maybe just not having the words to describe it- which was strange, for a God. Normally, they _always_ had something to say. Percy cleared his throat.

"I know what you're going to say." he told him.

Poseidon waited, expectantly.

"You're going to tell me that I've got to be careful, I've got to plan, I've got to have hope and not let myself slip into a place that I can't get back from. I get it, okay? I get that it's dangerous for a child of the big three to become bitter- for  
any hero too, in fact. But right now…" he took a deep breath. "Right now I really don't want to hear it."

"Percy-"

He turned to his father with desperate eyes. "This isn't about me and my stupid feelings- this isn't about whether I'm angry or worried or scared, Dad. This is about Annabeth and Piper and Elson. This is about my friends, and how they're missing and about  
how we- _I_ -have to get them back. So, I don't want a lecture and I sure as hell don't want a pity party, okay? Do you get that? Because-"

His voice faltered as he watched his father's gaze boring into him, listening intently to every word he said.

"Percy, I'm not going to tell you that."

Percy frowned, confused. "You're… you're not?"

Poseidon smiled slightly, his eyes flickering with amusement. "You know, you're mother always used to do that- guess what I was going to say before I said it. Though, she happened to be a lot better at it than you, I'm afraid."

"Oh." It was weird hearing Poseidon talk so lightly about his mother; Percy didn't know how to reply.

Fortunately, he didn't have to. "Anyway, I'm not going to tell you all those things because you're old enough to follow your head by now, Percy. I know you, and I know at the end of the day you will do what you think is right. I've seen it countless of  
times. I've seen you save the world countless of-"

"But, this is different." Percy said, his chest burning. "This is Annabeth."

Poseidon nodded, the expression in his eyes pained, as if seeing his son hurting hurt _him_. "I know that." he said softly. "And I know that will make you even _more_ motivated. But, Percy… please don't act recklessly. Annabeth wouldn't want  
that."

Percy had to grit his teeth to avoid reminding his father that they couldn't know _what_ Annabeth would have wanted, since she was gone, but he restrained himself. "I know that Dad. And… I won't."

"Good." Poseidon relaxed slightly, but he didn't look convinced. Percy felt as though his eyes were analysing him, seeing right through everything he said.

"So do you know anything?" Percy prompted. "Mr D- I mean, Dionysus, already said she was north. That I needed to speak to Aparticus."

"Ah, yes." Poseidon's eyes were unreadable. "He is quite a character, I must say. But I am afraid I cannot help you with this, Percy. I do not know who is doing this, but I sense a strong power is a threat to the Olympians. But do not worry. We will look  
out for whoever or whatever it is, I can assure you." Percy nodded; he hadn't expected much else, but Poseidon turned to him with a careful gaze.

"And yet, I sense it is not the fate of Olympus you are worrying about, my son, but something else entirely. I understand Annabeth means a lot to you."

Thoughts of Annabeth swirled around his head- all the times she'd grinned at him, or burst out laughing so unexpectedly; all the times she'd rolled her eyes at him, or stuck out her tongue, or pulled that cap on over her curly hair. He thought of how  
it felt when she kissed him, his heart pounding so loudly in his ears it was deafening; the way she stood up on her tiptoes to ruffle her hands through his hair, laughed at him for being an idiot, or chased him through the camp until they'd collapsed  
in a fit of laughter on the grass; that night when they'd stayed up late to watch the moonlight on the beach- she'd fallen asleep holding his hand, and he'd carried her back to bed to avoid the cleaning harpies; he remembered the way her skin had  
glowed in the moonlight, and how he'd marvelled that she really was _the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen_. He remembered how it felt to hold her, to kiss her forehead, to clasp her palm in his and run his hands through her hair or over  
her back as she lay on her stomach, writing notes for her class. He thought of all the days he'd spent annoying her, making her purse her lips and roll her eyes, and then making her laugh and kissing on her nose and the way her eyes would soften and  
sparkle in the sunlight. And he remembered that time when she had a cold, and she couldn't stop sneezing and her nose had been all red and cute and tissues had littered her desk, and he'd cuddled her until she felt better, or that day when she'd snapped  
at him and they'd argued- but really he knew she was just busy and stressed with building plans for Olympus, so he'd said sorry and made her a water bouquet that ended up splashing all over her shorts when she threw her arms around his neck, and they'd  
laughed and laughed as Percy realised that maybe it _hadn't_ been such a good idea, after all.

He thought of all these things and felt a surge of anger. For all the times he'd gone on stupid quests, for everything he'd done for the Gods, for the fates- this was how they repaid him? By taking the one thing that gave him happiness, the one person  
that he loved must in the world. The resentment and bitterness filled his chest and he clenched his jaw to keep it at bay.

"Yeah. She does." he managed.

His father watched him for a moment more, before nodding. "Then, if she really means that much to you, go find that girl and bring her home Percy. I believe in you."

Percy felt his anger evaporate as his father's words filled him with a sense of gratitude, and hope. He ran a hand through his hair. "Thanks Dad." he muttered.

For the first time, Poseidon smiled, his eyes filling with the warmth of the sea. "I want you to know how proud I am of you. You're asked… so much of, and there is no shame in admitting it's hard. In fact, I think it's much, much braver that way." Percy  
didn't know what to say, so he simply sat and watched as his father stood, dusting the sand off his Bermuda-style shorts. "I'll see you soon, I hope." he said, smiling down at him.

Percy smiled back, though he knew it didn't reach his eyes. "I hope so too."

Poseidon looked at him for a moment longer before placing his hand on his shoulder, and then turning and heading back along the beach. Percy watched as he walked out into the shore and disappeared into the depths of the ocean.

He stayed there for a little longer, watching the waves until the sun came up, and he knew what he had to do.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ Heroes of Olympus.**_

 _ **It's short, but I hope you enjoy. Please review!**_

Annabeth awoke to the sound of the Dracaena's muffled voices passing through the side of the truck; they had stopped moving, and she guessed they'd reached their destination- wherever that was. Piper was still asleep, her head sprawled on her rucksack, and she quickly shook her awake.

"Piper, we've stopped. I think we're here." she whispered. Annabeth watched as Piper glanced around their surroundings and realization seeped into her eyes, her kaleidoscopic iris's hardening, as she remembered where they were.

"What time is it?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"I'm not sure." Annabeth glanced at the light filtering through the edges of the truck's doors. "Early morning, I'd guess." Her head was pounding- she'd stayed awake most of the night, her mind working manically as she tried to work out the direction they were going in, and had only fallen into a fitful sleep a couple of hours earlier.

Piper nodded, and Annabeth got the feeling she was trying to hide her emotions, to act brave. She tried for a smile for the younger girl's sake. "It'll be okay."

But they both knew that wasn't the case.

Annabeth stiffened at the sound of a chain being rattled on the other side of the door, and impulsively moved in front of Piper as the back of the truck was flung open. Both girls winced as the light streamed in, and Annabeth had to shield her eyes. When they adjusted, it was not to a welcome sight; Daniel stood there, looking so much like Luke, grinning down at them.

"Morning, girls." he asked, in his slimy way. "Sleep well?"

The dracaena blindfolded and tied them up again, making the bonds extra tight this time so there was no chance they could escape, and marched them out of the truck. They walked down a slope, where the ground felt like gravel, and then through a set of doors. Annabeth immediately knew they were inside- the air felt cooler here, more compressed.

They halted, and she strained to hear what was happening as Daniel marched away from them and muttered something to someone a little way off. When he returned, he roughly pulled their blindfolds off, taking Annabeth by surprise.

"Welcome to your new home." he snarled, amusement flickering in his eyes. She blinked and looked around herself- they were in what looked like a grimy reception area. A mortal man in a dark guard's uniform stood at a desk made completely of steel- mirroring the expression on his stony face; there were no chairs or tables, only a small, unmarked door leading off to the right, and a thicker, heavier-looking double door in front of them. Annabeth had a horrible feeling she knew which one they'd be going through.

"What is this place?" Piper whispered.

"It's where you'll be kept until my mother decides otherwise." Daniel explained, happily.

Annabeth swallowed. She wanted to say something- to scream and shout, but she didn't have her knife, or her hat, (which she'd given to Jason to protect him from monsters as he travelled to the roman camp, thinking he'd need it more than her), and the words were stuck in her throat. She tried to think- but the only thing she could think of was to get her hands untied. She started fiddling with the rope as Daniel spoke, trying to look terrified- which wasn't hard, since that was how she felt- to distract him.

Daniel grinned at her helpless, frightened expression. "I see we're finally getting through to you." he commented. "Good. And, you know, this place isn't so bad… If you behave, that is." He grinned, and in that moment he looked so much like Luke, that Annabeth's heart faltered. But then his eyes glittered again, and the familiarity vanished completely.

He turned to the dracaena. "Now, take them to their cell. I have better things to do I'm afraid." _Bingo_ , Annabeth thought, as her hands came free.

She knew it was the perfect moment as Daniel left through the smaller door, his blonde head disappearing out of sight, and she exchanged glances with Piper; the younger girl nodded, understanding completely.

This was their last chance. With Daniel gone, _finally_ they stood a chance at fighting. Granted, the odds weren't great, taking into account they didn't have any weapons, but they were both strong enough to take on the dracaena, and they had nothing to lose.

 _Three, two, one,_ Annabeth mouthed, _Go_!

Annabeth whirled around, grabbing the long, curved blade that protruded from the nearest Dracaena's belt at the same time as Piper smashed her fists into one of the Dracaena's faces, causing her to topple into her friend. Annabeth sliced through Piper's hand ties, and proceeded in slamming her blade through the nearest Dracaena's chest, causing her to disintegrate into a pile of dust. She went to do the same to the dracaena left standing, but the monster was too quick and parried her blade. Annabeth began to fight with her as Piper grappled for another of the Dracaena's swords, and finished off the other two, who were struggling to get up from the ground- those snake trunk legs must have been hard to manoeuvre easily, Annabeth thought.

Piper was trying to open the door they'd entered through. "You need some kind of key card!" she cried.

Annabeth thought quickly. "The guard," she panted, parrying a deadly blow. "Get to the desk."

Faintly, Annabeth processed the said guard pressing a button on the side of the wall, and soon the sound of alarms erupted throughout the building. A surge of panic welled up in her chest; they needed to move quickly.

"Piper! Try and turn off the alarm!" Annabeth called. She was still locked in battle with the dracaena, who was surprisingly quick, and was aided by the fact swordplay wasn't Annabeth's strongpoint. Internally, she longed for her knife, but knew she'd have to make do. And, with a thrust of power, she curved the sword in an ark up the dracaena's chest, causing her to let out an angry wail as she disintegrated.

Annabeth felt a sense of relief wash over her, but it was short-lived, as the crushing realization that any moment Daniel would come charging through the door hit her. She rushed over to where Piper had somehow managed to knock out the guard and was rifling desperately through the drawers, looking for a key card.

"It's not here!" she exclaimed.

"Keep looking." said Annabeth, glancing at the smaller door Daniel had disappeared through. Her heart skipped a beat as she heard the pounding of footsteps close by, and her eyes widened. "I'm going to secure the door!"

She charged over and locked it, but knew it wasn't going to be enough. She needed something to hold it- but there was nothing there. No furniture, nothing. "Piper! Hurry!" she cried, straining to see through the glass.

The sight turned her stomach to ice. Monsters- hordes of monsters- were approaching, clutching weapons of all different sizes; it made her heart hammer painfully in her chest, and she backed away. "Piper…"

"I've got it!" The other girl cried, jumping over the desk and to the front door. But just before she reached it, the monsters piled out of the door, spilling into the reception area.

It was bedlam.

Annabeth sliced her sword through a dracaena- but not before she was cut across the arm by the said-monster's talons- and stabbed two empousa in the chest, but the monsters just kept on coming- snarling at her, surrounding her, closing in. She could hear Piper behind her, struggling to fight a harpy, and she tried to shield the girl as best as she could whilst she fought- slicing and stabbing and trying to avoid as many weapons as she could.

Suddenly she gasped as a sword scraped across her side- whatever it was made of burned her skin, causing her to cry out in pain- and her knees threatened to buckle.

 _Stay standing_ , a voice whispered in her ear, _Don't give up_. It was Percy's voice, filling her with strength, with hope. Her eyes flew open and she whirled around, stabbed the empousa that had made the cut and sliced her sword into a giant scorpion that scuttled past her feet. She could feel her lip bleeding, blood dripping from her face and the wound in her side burning, but she ignored it and plowed on, spinning and slashing and fighting with everything she had. She'd never understood how Percy did it- fought an entire army, killing monster after monster, but she thought she had a taste of it now. It was as though she could feel the hum of battle around her, could sense the heat of the monsters as they dived for her.

But just at that moment, a myrmeke approached her, scuttling on the floor. She knew how hard they were to kill, and her chest tightened. They were basically giant ants- about the size of a big dog- but their shells were practically unbreakable and they sprayed poison. She backed away, trying to avoid its frothing mouth…

And she ran straight into a demigod.

The girl had thinning blonde hair and a sinister smile; her brown eyes glittered when she saw the surprise of seeing another demigod on Annabeth's face, and she took advantage of her momentary distraction, slamming her blade towards Annabeth's chest. Annabeth shook herself awake and parried the blade just in time, returning the favour with a strike of her own, and they were soon caught up in a viscous battle- whoever this girl was, she was superbly trained, and Annabeth had to stay focused continuously, blocking every strike. The girl pushed and pulled at her, weaving in amongst the monsters, but Annabeth was fighting back just as hard. She parried and propelled and rove the girl forward, and knew she was going to win. The girl was getting weaker, her movements slower-

But then Annabeth's ankle gave way.

She screamed as she fell, landing hard on the floor, and the sinking feeling filled her stomach that it was over. The girl loomed over her, grinning, ready to play the final move-

And Annabeth knew, with a terrible certainty, that her time had come.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ Heroes of Olympus.**_

 **Please please please review:)**

Percy conjured a spray of water to create a rainbow and threw in the last golden drachma he had in his pocket. He'd already spent three trying to contact Annabeth- an effort which had ended, unsurprisingly, ineffectively.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering." he called. "Show me Jason Grace."

Jason and Reyna flickered into view. They were both leaning over a battle table with their backs to Percy, and Percy could see by the strain of Jason's back that they were discussing something stressful.

"-must admit, it unsettles me." Reyna was saying.

Jason nodded. "It definitely looks like something is up. We'll have to send out a squadrant to take a look. Could be a horde of Venti-"

"Jason." Percy interrupted, "As enthralling as this is, I have to speak to you."

Jason whirled around, his eyes wide. He looked tired- his usually neat blonde hair was dishevelled and there were bags under his eyes. Percy felt a twinge of sympathy for the kid- he looked like he hadn't slept in a week- but there were more important things at hand. "Percy?" Jason squinted at him, "What… what are you…? It's the middle of the _night_."

"Oh." Percy grimaced, realizing that it did in fact looked dark there. "Sorry, I keep forgetting… the time difference…"

"Don't worry." Jason said, brushing him off. "Has something happened? What's the matter?"

Percy swallowed- the words were a lot harder to get out than he'd thought they'd be. "It's… It's Piper, Jason. She, Annabeth ad Elson haven't come back… and we have reason to believe they've been taken."

" _What_?" He looked shell-shocked, his mouth falling open. Percy sighed. _Same, man, same,_ he thought.

"We need you to get here right away, Jason. We're going on a quest to retrieve them."

"So you know where they are?" Jason was all business now- his blue eyes covering his shock with a thin layer of anger. Percy could empathise.

He grimaced. "Not exactly. But we have a lead. When can you get here?"

Jason glanced at Reyna, who had been watching the exchange with an unreadable expression. "You can take a pegasi." she offered.

Jason nodded, turning back to Percy. "I'll be there by tomorrow." he told him. "But Percy… who would've taken them? Who would have been _able_ to?"

"I don't know." Percy admitted grimly. "But I intend on finding out."

Hazel awoke to Frank humming 'Stayin' Alive' by the Bee Gees. She listened for a few minutes, hiding her smile, before she opened her eyes.

"Nice singing." she commented.

Frank jumped at her voice, and immediately turned beetroot red. "You heard that? I… I-" he spluttered, not knowing what to say, and Hazel couldn't help but laugh, patting the warm hand that cradled her own.

"I'm only teasing, Frank."

"Right." His face softened into one of concern, the colour fading in his cheeks. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Good." She smiled. "Great, actually. I guess I just needed a bit of time to sleep off the shado…" She trailed off, her face suddenly turning ashen. "Oh Gods, I can't believe I forgot! Annabeth and Piper! They're in trouble! We have to go and find them! I have to speak to Percy to-"

"Hey, _breathe_ Hazel." Frank placed his hands on her shoulders to calm her down, his worried eyes watching her carefully. "Now, what do you want to-"

"Oh, _Frank_." She suddenly broke down, becoming a mess of shuddering sobs, and collapsing into his chest. He went rigid with surprise, but then softened, cradling her in his arms as she wept.

Finally she sniffed, wiping her nose with the sleeve of her t-shirt. She turned to Frank with tear-filled eyes. "I need to speak to Percy." she said firmly. "Right away."

Frank nodded, his eyes still full of worry. "Okay. I'll go get him."

Hazel pushed herself out of bed and paced the small room, impatiently waiting for Percy. Finally he arrived, Frank following behind. His dark hair was as ruffled as ever, but his eyes looked weary and tired, and there was a tension in his jaw that Hazel had seen before- it was the look he had when an anger was brewing.

"Percy." She pulled him into a hug, noticed Frank standing awkwardly behind him, and quickly released him. "It's good to see you."

"You too." He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "What's going on? What's happened to them?"

"Come with me to Chiron, and I'll explain everything."

Hazel glanced at Chiron as she finished her story; the room had been deadly quiet as she told them about Daniel and what he'd done to Piper with only his bare hands. She'd talked about Metias and how she'd barely escaped, and how terrified they'd all been, but unable to fight back against Daniel's power. Leo, Frank, Percy and Chiron all listened, not saying a word.

She turned to Percy, who looked murderous- his jaw was clenched tightly together and Hazel got the feeling his hands were curled into fists underneath the table. "Annabeth said you can't go rushing into this, Percy. She said you had to-"

"I don't care what she said." he growled, his green eyes burning ferociously. The table had begun to tremble lightly and Hazel prayed silently that Percy wouldn't lose control of his power and soak them all. "I'm going to find Aparticus tomorrow, and I'm going to hunt down this Daniel guy and his bitch-mother, and I'm going to kill them."

" _Percy_!" Hazel chided, horrified that he'd swear in front of Chiron.

Leo was grinning. "Sounds good to me." he said.

"Leo-" Percy turned to him, all business. "We'll need a vehicle. That ship of yours… could you make it fly, like the Argo?"

"Sure I can." Leo agreed.

"When by?"

"Er…" He scratched his head. "I'd say having it done by tomorrow would be a stre-"

"You can do it." Percy said, confidently. "I know you can."

He stood, looking like the powerful son of Poseidon Hazel knew him to be. "We'll leave tomorrow evening."

"But Percy," Leo protested, "The ship's only big enough for-"

Percy cut him off. "We'll make do." He promised. "We always do."

And with that, he stormed out of the room, leaving his speechless friends behind him.

Chiron was the one to fill the silence. He sighed deeply. "Well… I must admit I have many worries about this quest, but I am certain you will all be very careful, and make sure you plan well. Jason and Percy will be of good help, I'm sure."

"If they're not ripping each other's throats out." Frank muttered.

Hazel frowned at him. "You know those two get along fine, really. And when they have a common enemy…"

"They're unstoppable." Leo finished, but he, too, was frowning. "Though if it's true about this Daniel guy… and if his mother's meant to be even worse… Then maybe this time they will be in trouble."

Percy made his way to Rachel's cave, his head filled with fury. He couldn't think straight- when Hazel had told them about that Daniel guy, how he was threatening _his_ girlfriend, hurting Piper… he'd nearly lost it. He dreaded to think what was happening to them all, and it made him furious that he couldn't do anything about it.

He'd reached the cave without even realising, and he walked straight in. "Rachel?" he called, pushing past a long red curtain.

"In here!" she replied.

She was sat in the main living area of the cave- a comfy room decked out with thick pillows and blankets, and a magical fire in the centre which filled the room with warmth, but didn't give off any smoke. Surprisingly, Nico was sat with her.

"Hey Percy." Rachel greeted. She was sat cross-legged in front of the fire, Nico in front of her. "I'm just seeing if I can sense anything. Nico's helping."

Percy looked at him, eyebrows raised, and Nico blushed, scratching his head awkwardly. "Er, yeah, I'm kinda good at sensing stuff."

"Fair enough." Percy said. "Your sister's awake, by the way."

"She is?" Nico's eyes widened. "How is she?"

"Good, I think." Percy sighed. "She just explained what happened on the quest. Piper and Annabeth have been… captured." He struggled to get the word out. "Something to do with Metias."

"Metias?!" Rachel exclaimed, her eyes going wide- and then, suddenly, her body went rigid. Her eyes closed, and when they opened again, they were a bright emerald colour. Green smoke was swirling around her feet, and when her mouth opened wide, it curled off her tongue.

And she spoke in a voice that was not her own:

 _"_ _Travel north to save those you hold close,_

 _One of you the traitor, one the traitor's only hope._

 _Fail to succeed, or succeed just to fail,_

 _Two rivals must unite if all are to prevail._

 _The power of love or the power of mind,_

 _One leads to betrayal, the other to goodbye."_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ Heroes of Olympus.**_

 _She screamed as she fell, landing hard on the floor, and the sinking feeling filled her stomach that it was over. The girl loomed over her, grinning, ready to play the final move-_

 _And Annabeth knew, with a sudden certainty, that her time had come._

She thought of her cabin mates- of Malcolm and Hannah and Jack, and all the times they'd been there for her- dealing with her mood swings when she was stressed, and her bossiness when it was cabin inspection; she thought of her friends- Grover, Piper, Hazel, Jason, Leo, Frank, Clarisse, and Tyson, and all the laughs they'd had, all the tears they'd shed together; her heart ached, too, for her family- for her mum and her Dad- oh _gods_ , her Dad- and for her step mum and those two irritating little brothers of hers, who she secretly loved to pieces. She thought of Chiron, who had been like a father too her, and even Mr D, who had always been there, in his own way.

And then she thought of Percy- pictured him, really. It was a nice picture- he had his head thrown back with laughter and his hand hanging easily over her shoulder, and his eyes were so full of life that her heart broke a little. She's miss that smile the most, she thought, but it was a nice thing to think about as the blade came arching down towards her.

She closed her eyes.

And then a voice rang out over the chaos.

" _Enough_! Enough! Leave, all of you."

The monsters grumbled, but turned away, and reluctantly, the girl followed them, throwing Annabeth one more scathing glance. She had to wonder if the girl hadn't been trained quite so well- hadn't had those quick reactions- whether the sword would have hit her, and whether she'd be dead.

And then the pain came soaring back and everything else left her mind.

Apart from Piper. She needed to find Piper. She had a responsibility over that girl.

"Piper? Are you okay?" Annabeth croaked, trying to get up.

A figure loomed over her, but it wasn't the one she wanted to see- it was Daniel, his face taught with anger. "My, my, you _have_ made a mess, demigod… did you _really_ think you'd escape me?"

Annabeth didn't reply- she didn't know _what_ she'd been thinking, only that she wanted to get as far away from this psychopath as she could. "Where's Piper?" she asked again, but he didn't reply.

"It's okay. I'm here, Annabeth." came a voice from across the room. Piper hobbled over, clutching her shoulder, and Annabeth sighed with relief; she had a long scratch across her face and a couple of bruises on her arms, but aside from that she looked okay.

The same couldn't be said for her. "Oh gods, your hurt!" Piper cried, kneeling next to her and assessing her injuries with anxious eyes.

"I'm fine." Annabeth ground out, but her ankle and the wound in her side felt like they were on fire.

"Don't lie. Trust me, you wouldn't be saying that if you could see yourself." She turned to Daniel. "Have you got any nectar?"

"Nectar?" he raised his eyebrows. "I can assure you, she won't be getting medical treatment from me. In fact, I rather like seeing your friend all… vulnerable."

Fury rose in Piper's eyes. " _Vulnerable_? But it could get infected!"

"You seem to be under the impression that I care whether she lives or dies. I don't. If it were up to me, I would have killed you both already- but my mother has other plans."

Piper seemed to be struggling with her words, and the concept that Daniel could halep but wouldn't. "But… but she's _hurt_!"

"Yes… she does seem to have fallen off her high horse, doesn't she?" Daniel commented.

Annabeth wanted to throttle him right there, but Piper beat her to it; she told him to do something with himself that was physically impossible, and it soon wiped the smile off his face.

"Why you little-" He stopped himself, though it seemed to take some effort. "Well, since it seems my servants are inadequate, I have decided to escort you to your cell myself. Follow me now and I _won't_ kill you. Yet."

He waited impatiently as Piper curled her arm around Annabeth's shoulder, helping the older girl get to her feet. Pain seared through her body, and Annabeth's skin turned a sickly colour as soon as she was upright, but she gritted her teeth, and leant heavily on Piper's shoulder as they began to hobble down the corridor.

It was darker here- the walls and floors made of a jet-black stone, and Annabeth didn't understand how Daniel knew where he was going in the half-light as they travelled down winding corridors, past countless sealed doors. They must have only been walking for five minutes, but it felt like an eternity with Annabeth's ankle throbbing, and the pain in her side burning. It was a relief when Daniel finally stopped at a thick steel door marked '307'.

He held open the door with mock politeness, grinning that smarmy grin of his. "Right this way."

The cell was disgusting- grimy black walls and floor with the only furniture being a metal toilet. It was dark and gloomy, with the single source of light being a small window with thick iron bars across it. Annabeth's stomach turned. This was hell.

Daniel got to work quickly, chaining them to the wall of the cell; Annabeth got the feeling he couldn't stand being in the cell for two minutes, which was ironic. She'd never wanted to drive her knife through someone's chest more. The chains were long enough so that they could walk around if they liked, but Annabeth knew she wouldn't be doing much walking anytime soon. She felt tired and dreary, which wasn't a good sign, since she'd probably lost a fair bit of blood, but all she could think about right now was sleep.

The door slammed shut behind Daniel and they were alone in their grimy, isolated room of how. Annabeth sighed, feeling her eyelids begin to droop…

"Hey, hey. Stay with me, Annabeth." And Piper was there, her bright eyes boring into Annabeth's. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, okay? Just stay awake."

She inspected the gash in Annabeth's side and let out a hiss between her teeth. Annabeth could see the anger she was trying to hide reflected in her irises. "Well, the good news is," she said, ripping a slice of her t-shirt off and trying to sound upbeat, "It's not too deep. The only thing is, it's all red around the edge, and I'm not sure…"

"It's poison." Annabeth said, gritting her teeth as she wrapped up the wound.

Piper stopped in her tracks. " _What_? Does that mean-"

"It won't kill me." said Annabeth. "Not yet. The poison isn't as strong as Kampê's or anything. But over a period of time…" She sighed. "I don't know, Pipes. I really don't know."

Piper stared at her for a long time before she returned to tying the bandage, avoiding Annabeth's gaze. "Well then, we'll just have to be extra careful then, watch out for-"

"Piper."

She carried on tending to the wound, ignoring Annabeth's probing gaze.

" _Piper_."

"What?" She turned back to face Annabeth, her eyes brimming with tears.

"It's okay." Annabeth said softly.

Piper sniffed, wiping her hand across her face. "I… You're my best friend, Annabeth. I can't lose you too."

"You won't." Annabeth promised. "We're going to get out of here. I swear."

"I hope so." she whispered, "I really do."


	11. Chapter 11

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ Heroes of Olympus.**_

 _ **Sorry it's so short! With this story I've tried to do more frequent but shorter chapters, to ensure I'm uploading even when I have no inspiration, so please bare with me x**_

Percy and Nico stared at Rachel in shock; Percy felt as though an ice cube had slipped down the back of his neck… ' _One leads to betrayal, the other to goodbye'…_

"What was it?" Rachel asked, seeing their expressions. "What was the prophecy?"

Percy coughed, finding his voice. "You said, "Travel north to save those you hold close, One of you the traitor, one the traitor's only hope. Fail to succeed, or succeed just to fail…"

"Two rivals must unite if all are to prevail." Nico continued, "The power of love or the power of mind, One leads to betrayal, the other to goodbye."

There was a moment of silence. Then, "That doesn't sound good." admitted Rachel.

"You think?" Percy muttered.

Rachel ignored him. "I mean, the first bit is obvious… you're going to travel north to save Annabeth, Piper and Elson, the second bit's a little worrying, I'll admit-"

"A _little_ worrying?" Percy repeated. "A traitor is more than a little worrying, Rachel."

"Well… you know, these things… they aren't always clear-"

"Sounds pretty clear to me." Percy huffed. "But carry on."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Well, 'Fail to succeed, or succeed to fail'… that could mean anything. I suppose you either fail in your task, or succeed and there's something else waiting ahead of you- I don't know. And 'two rivals must unite'… that's pretty self-explanatory."

"What about the last bit?" Nico asked, glancing at Percy. "Betrayal and goodbye both sound like pretty bad options to me."

"That's true." Rachel agreed, biting the nail of her thumb. "But it could mean lots of things. We can't dwell on that… just… use the other pieces of information to your advantage. Be prepared, never get distracted… you'll be _fine_." she promised.

But Percy wasn't very comforted; he couldn't shake the horrible feeling crawling up his stomach that there was some kind of warning in this prophecy. He didn't like it.

But, he'd have to suck it up. "Right," he said, dusting off his jeans. "We better get to work Nico. Pack up supplies and stuff for tomorrow. Thanks Rachel."

"No problem." she said, then hesitated. "And, er… Percy?"

He turned. "Yeah?"

"Be careful… all of you." She swallowed. "I know you feel what I feel- something's not right. Watch out, and bring them home safely."

Percy nodded. "I will." he promised, and, with that, he turned and left the cave.

Leo wiped away the sweat dripping down his forehead as he reconnected the wires in the Paralus. He'd spent the past hour rifling through his stores to find some Lemnos fire, and he'd used up the last of the bottle of River Styx water, so he could only hope it would be enough. The rest of the ingredients were easier to get hold of, but it was the technical part that was tricky. The engine had to have the perfect balance to be able to fly and at the moment the wiring was completely wrong. He sighed, taking a breather from the hot, unventilated engine area of the ship but knew he had to quickly got back to work if he was going to get it finished by-

"Hey." a voice called. Leo jumped and hit his head hard on the metal lid above him. He swore and turned around, rubbing his head, to see who was taking up his precious time.

It was Hazel. "Oh," said Leo, frowning in surprise. "What can I do for you Hazel?"

She grimaced, gesturing to his head. "Sorry about that."

He waved her off. "It's fine. I've suffered much worse."

"Right."

There was a slightly awkward silence. Leo still never knew how to act around Hazel- what with all the Sammy stuff. His attention flickered around the cabin, like it always did when he felt uncomfortable. The window Festus had broken six months previously needed fixing, and the East wall needed a fresh a paint job…

"I'm here to ask a favour." Hazel blurted out. Leo was surprised that she'd come to him of all people, but he felt a twinge of gratitude.

"What d'ya need?" he asked, swinging a spanner coolly round his finger- and then dropping it with a clang. Red faced, Leo crouched and picked it up.

Hazel pretended not to notice. "I was just talking to Nico, and he told me that Rachel gave them a prophecy."

"They did? What was it about?"

Hazel bit her lip. "I'm not sure, but it didn't sound good- it was all traitors and betrayal and goodbyes… Percy will tell you, he's good at remembering this stuff. But anyway, I was wondering if you'd help me with something…" She fiddled with her camp necklace and pulled off a small bead that Leo hadn't noticed hanging there. It was about the size of a marble, a deep indigo stone that flickered in the light. The strange object was eerily beautiful, and it emanated a strange aura; Leo was immediately drawn in.

"What is it?" he asked, taking the bead from Hazel's open palm and holding it up to the light.

"I'm not sure." she admitted. "I only just found it in my pocket. And… there was a note…"

She pulled the crumpled paper from the pocket of her jeans and handed it to Leo. A few words marked the page, scribbled there in elegant handwriting. It simply read:

Hazel,

This stone belonged to your mother, and when the time is right it shall serve you well. Press the stone in your palms and it may help your friends succeed.

Leo scanned the note with a frown.

"What do you think it means?" Hazel asked, trying to gauge his reaction.

"I'm not sure." Leo admitted, handing the stone and the note back to her. "Do you really think it belonged to your mother?"

"Well, I've never seen it before." Hazel replied, "But then again, my mother had a lot of secrets." She turned the stone over in her hand. "It's kind of beautiful, don't you think?"

Leo nodded. "It must have some kind of magic to it- it has a sort of _pull_."

Hazel nodded. "Yeah I felt that too." She paused. "Well, thanks anyway Leo. I better let you finish your ship."

She turned to leave.

"Wait, Hazel!" Leo called out. "I just want to know- why did you come to me?"

Hazel blushed. "Despite everything, Leo, you're a good friend. And… I guess some part of me trust you, like I trusted Sammy."

Leo nodded. He was surprised at how unsurprised he was at this fact. "Well, if it counts for anything… I trust you too, Hazel."

She smiled warmly. "Thanks Leo."

Percy had packed his bag in five minutes flat. He hadn't needed much- just ambrosia, a spare t-shirt and a couple of snacks for the road. And now here he was, sat waiting in his cabin. He'd iris messaged his mum- who had gotten teary when he mentioned Annabeth was missing, but had obviously tried to hide it for his sake, and had finally told Tyson what had happened. After he'd calmed down, the cyclops had been adamant he wanted to come, but Percy'd insisted that he was needed at camp, for he knew this was something he wanted to do with the least amount of people possible. The less of them there were, the quicker and safer it would be, and he couldn't stand this for much longer.

He glanced out the window- it was getting darker, and he was glad. Jason would get there tomorrow and then they could set off, and he would be one step closer to finding Annabeth.

He would find her- no matter what the prophecy said.


	12. Chapter 12

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ Heroes of Olympus.**_

 ** _Thanks to AnnaUnicorn for all her lovely reviews! I really enjoyed reading them:) Sorry this is such a boring chapter._**

Annabeth was awoken from her daze by the sound of a tray being shoved roughly through the flap in their thick cell door. She blinked away her sleepiness and watched as Piper scrambled up to see what they'd been given- they were both starving, having not eaten anything since the day previously, but at least their thirst had been quenched by the water fountain on the wall.

Piper ripped apart the sizeable chunk of bread and handed Annabeth the obviously bigger half, much to her frustration.

"You have it." The blonde argued, but Piper shook her head determinedly.

"You need your strength." she said simply. "Eat."

Annabeth knew there was no point fighting her, and took the piece reluctantly. The bread was nothing special- it was dry and crusty- but the food was heaven to her empty stomach.

Piper tugged on her thick shackles and reached up to see out the barred window. "It looks about six o'clock." she said, "I wonder if the others are looking for us yet."

But before Annabeth could reply, a quiet scratching sound made them both jump. They turned to look at the source- and saw a rock at the bottom of the far wall was being shifted, and a crumpled piece of paper being passed through. Piper exchanged a glance with Annabeth, before lifting her chains and stumbling across the cell to get a better look.

The note read:

 **Return if safe to talk.**

Piper, confused, quickly did as the note asked, and a moment later a girl's voice came through the hole.

"Hello?" It sounded slightly raspy, and breathless with what could only be excitement. Piper's heart clenched. She'd imagined the prison- or whatever this place was- to be empty; she couldn't believe that there were other prisoners here to, and she wondered how long the girl had been here. "Is anyone there?"

"Er, hi. My name's Piper." Piper replied, trying to get a look through the hole. "What's yours?"

There was a flash of dark hair through the hole. "Pixie." the girl replied, and Piper could definitely hear the relief and anticipation in her voice. "I'm Pixie Stewart."

"Nice to meet you, Pixie." Piper said, looking back over her shoulder at Annabeth. The older girl was thinking deeply, her brow furrowed, but Piper could see the paleness of her skin, and knew she was hiding the pain she felt. "Are you alone?"

"Yes." The girl sounded surprised. "Why wouldn't I be? Aren't you?"

"No, it's me and Annabeth in here."

"Oh wow, there's two of you?! That's amazing."

"It is?" Piper asked.

"Oh, well I'm not sure really. I've never spoken to anyone in here before, actually."

"Do you know what this place is, then?" Piper asked.

"I'm not sure- some kind of prison where they hold demigods. I think they call it "Inferna". It means-"

"Hell." Piper finished. "It's Latin for hell." Annabeth, who had been painstakingly shuffling over, stopped in her tracks.

"Yeah," Pixie said. Now she'd started talking it seemed impossible for her to stop. "I'm pretty sure there are others here, though I'm not sure how many. This is the place that monsters bring demigods who they have the really big grudges on, and they let them rot rather than giving them the easy way out and killing them." Pixie said it so matter-of-factly that Piper got the sense she'd got used to the idea a long time ago.

"How long have you been here?" she asked.

"I was captured in a forest close by, a couple of months ago now, I think- you kind of lose track of time here, you see. But it's so good to _finally_ speak to someone. Honestly, I thought I'd never hear someone else's voice or have a proper conversation for a long time."

Annabeth slumped by into the wall, exhausted. Piper's brow furrowed. "Don't the guards ever speak to you, or ask you questions?"

She could sense Pixie shaking her head. "No. Not really." She lowered her voice. "They only really speak to the badly behaved ones. You know, the kids that put up a fuss, scream and shout… or the ones that just lose it completely. I've heard it a couple of times now. It never ends well."

Piper shivered. This place sounded awful' they had to escape- and soon. "That's horrible."

"That's one word for it." Pixie agreed darkly.

"So, does that mean you weren't bought here by Daniel then?" Annabeth asked.

Faintly, they could hear Pixie's intake of breath. "Oh my God, you're one of _those_ , are you? I did hear something the other day- some guards muttering about a guy named Daniel. They said he was bringing in three demigods, something about having 'big plans' for you I think."

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Piper said, sighing.

"You must be pretty important." Pixie commented. "They've been waiting for you for a while."

The corner of Annabeth's mouth quirked up. "Not really." she said, "we're the same as anyone else."

"So, how many years have you guys been on the run for?" Pixie asked.

"On the… _Oh_." Realisation dawned in Piper's eyes. Pixie didn't know anything about demigod camps.

Annabeth swiftly swooped in, seeing Piper's surprise. "We weren't on the run, Pixie. We live at a camp called Camp half-blood. It's home to lots of demigods, like you."

"A camp?" Pixie sounded bewildered. "I've never heard of a camp before. So are there lots of people… like us?"

"Yeah, there are loads of demigods." Piper said. "We're everywhere."

There was a pause. "I can't believe it. My brother would have been so excited"

"Your brother?"

Pixie sighed. "Yeah. His name was Joe. We were on the run together since my mum disappeared when I was eleven. He was only six."

Piper glanced at Annabeth. "What happened to him?"

Pixie sniffed. "I don't know. He disappeared earlier this year. But I know there was a hellhound close by…" She broke off, and Piper could hear her sobs through the wall. Her heart felt bruised; she wanted to reach out to the girl and tell her it'd be okay, but of course, that wasn't true.

It was Annabeth who spoke up. She was frowning. "Pixie… how do you know so much about monsters if you've never met another half-blood?"

"Wha… what?" said Pixie.

"You called the monster a hellhound," Annabeth insisted. "How did you know to call it that?"

" _Oh_. That was Dylan."

"Dylan?" Piper asked.

"He was this guy I met, a few days before I was captured. He was camping out in the woods, a demigod like me. He told me all about the monsters and stuff, what the animal that I'd met in the woods was. He was nice." There was a pause, where they could hear her shuffling around. "He gave me this." she said, rolling a small orb-shaped jewel through the hole.

Piper inspected it, holding it between her finger and thumb- it was beautiful, a kaleidoscope of dusky purple's and smoky hues. "Wow." she whispered. "What is it?"

"I don't know." Pixie admitted. "He gave it to me one night and the next morning he had disappeared. All he said was 'I get the feeling you'll need this. Use it when the time is right."

"Weird." Piper said, handing the orb to Annabeth, who was frowning quizzically. She squinted at the orb.

"Can I have it back now?" Pixie asked, "It feels weird without it."

"Sure." Annabeth said, reluctantly. She rolled the orb back through the hole.

"Thanks." said Pixie.

Piper tried to read the expression on Annabeth's face- something told her she didn't like that orb, and she was curious as to why.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the PJO or HOO series**

 **Sorry it's been so long! I shall try and update more often x**

If her silence was anything to go by, it appeared Pixie had fallen asleep, and Piper filled the hole they had used to communicate back up, on the off chance a guard might spot it. The guards here mostly appeared to be monsters of some form or another- most often it was dracaena thumping along the corridors, but occasionally there would be human footsteps. Piper shuddered to think what type of demigods and mortals would consider working in a place like this.

Annabeth appeared to be getting worse- her skin now wore a sheen of sweat, and her face was a worrying pallor- grey tinged with yellow. She needed nectar or medical treatment, and fast. Silently, Piper ripped off a new strip from her t-shirt and began re-dressing the older girl's wound. The bleeding had stopped, thankfully, but the gash was now blistering and oozing a yellowy-green liquid, which did nothing to calm Piper's fears. Annabeth glanced down at the cut, her eyes bright with fever. "Not looking good." she rasped. She watched Piper work for a minute before letting her head fall back against the cool cell wall, exhausted.

"That's an understatement." Piper replied, gritting her teeth as she finished tying the bandage. Internally, she thanked Will for teaching her a few medical tricks back at camp. "You need treatment, and soon."

Annabeth closed her eyes, too tired to reply. She looked as though she were about to slip out of consciousness, and Piper knew that would be very bad. "Don't fall asleep on me, Chase." she warned, trying to keep conversation going and Annabeth awake. Thankfully the blonde's eyes opened again, and Piper sidled up next to her, leaning against the wall.

"What time do you think it is?' Annabeth asked slowly, as if each word hurt. Her throat sounded raspy and sore.

Piper shrugged. "Must be nearly night. Pixie fell asleep." She glanced at the hole, feeling a gulf of pity for the little girl. They'd learnt she was only twelve years old, and two months alone in this place without human contact must have been hell. _Ironic_ , Piper thought, _that the place is named that_. "Do you think there's many other kids in here?"

Annabeth's brow furrowed. "Not sure." She admitted. "I'd like to say that people would notice if loads of kids were disappearing up here, but with the numbers of missing children each year, well…"

"They might go unnoticed." Piper finished, suddenly feeling a surge of anger at the world they lived in- a twelve year old girl, locked up here all alone and not one mortal or immortal had lifted a finger to help. It made her skin crawl.

Caught up in her anger, she hadn't realised that Annabeth had slipped into a slumber.

Annabeth's dreams were frenzied and feverish. She was spinning in a world of heat; and for one, heart-racing moment she thought she was back in tarturus, this time alone. She twisted and turned, writhed and wriggled, but the heat was all consuming- it surrounded her in a thick smog wherever she went, and, eventually, she lay still- gasping for air and feeling as if her skin was being set on fire.

 _Annabeth_. She wasn't sure if the voice was real or in her mind, or whether she'd imagined it completely, but she ignored it. All she wanted to do was sleep.

 ** _Annabeth_**. There it was again, stronger this time. The voice was firm and familiar, persuading her to listen, breaking through the fog.

"What?" she garbled, her voice a broken whisper.

A figure was emerging through the red haze. "Open your eyes, sweetheart. Open your eyes."

It was her mother- grey eyes blazing, mouth set in a firm line. "Be strong, Annabeth." she commanded, the words instilling Annabeth with strength. "Your friends will search for you, but that will not be the end. You need to use your instincts, or you could end up losing more than just yourself. Remember your roots. Remember your roots and you will be strong."

She tried to respond, but the words were stuck in her throat. _What if I can't be strong, Mum? What if I'm weak? I don't know how long I can hold it together._

Athena seemed to understand. She placed a gentle hand on Annabeth's shoulder, her stormy eyes a mixture of sympathy and underlying anger _. Open your eyes,_ she said, softly.

Annabeth did as she was told.

Piper was shaking her, expression full of panic. "Annabeth? Annabeth? Oh, thank the gods you're awake." She exhaled, slouching with relief.

Annabeth took in Piper's strained eyes and grimy appearance. "How long was I out?" she asked, frowning.

"All night. It's morning now." Piper gestured to the thin rays of light shining through the window. "I tried to wake you up, but you were out like a light. You're pulse slowed scarily at one point, and I… I thought that was it. But then it evened up again and you got some colour back in your face." She swallowed. "I was worried out of my mind."

Annabeth sighed. The last thing she wanted was to cause the poor girl more worry. "I'm sorry to cause you stress, but I feel much better now." She frowned, realising her head did in fact feel clearer- nothing like the hazy, burning mess it had been before. "In fact, I feel pretty good."

Piper matched her frown with one of her own. "Are you sure? You were burning up in the night."

"Yeah." Annabeth shifted. Her wound still stung, but nowhere near the searing pain of the day before. She folded up her t-shirt to find the gash no longer looked as bad- blistering and red, yes, but with no more pus in sight.

"But I don't understand…" Piper was equally as baffled as the two girls took in the wound. "How could it have started to heal?"

A realisation suddenly came to Annabeth. "My mother." she muttered.

"What?"

"My mother. She came to me in a dream- tried to warn me. I guess she was the one to do this." Annabeth folded down her t-shirt. "She mentioned something about 'remembering my roots'."

"What does that mean?"

Annabeth shook her head. "No idea. Something about my dad or Mum? I don't know." She sighed. "I guess we'll have to see. Is Pixie awake?"

"No." said Piper, her expression unreadable. "But there's something else."

Dread suddenly filled Annabeth's stomach. "What?" she asked, unsure if she wanted to know the answer.

Piper hesitated. "A guard arrived to bring us water and some dried beans, not so long ago. He actually came in this time- to check we weren't dead, I guess- but on the way out, this fell out of his pocket."

And, between her thumb and forefinger, Piper held a golden drachma.

 **If you enjoyed, please review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**I**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I own none of the PJO or HOO series**

 **Sorry it's been so long!**

For the first time in his life, Percy felt sea sick. Well, he figured it wasn't _actually_ the sea that was causing his nausea, but the movement of the boat still wasn't helping as his stomach rolled round and round, and his grip on the railing  
/of Leo's boat was tight.

Who knew being separated from Annabeth would feel like this? They hadn't been apart in so long- not since Athena's quest, and he'd forgotten what it was like to be racked with worry for her, his arms aching to be wrapped around her.

"You cool, man?" Jason's voice broke through his thoughts, his brow creased in worry. It made Percy feel a little better than Jason didn't appear to be holding up too well either- his face was pale with stress and he was slumped on the floor of the boat,  
/head leaning against the railing.. When he'd arrived at camp that morning they'd both shared a look of understanding that they both felt now. They would do anything to get their girls back.

Percy sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm fine… you know how it is."

"Yeah." Jason closed his eyes. "I know exactly how you feel."

"Hey, you two!" Leo was close by, steering the ship. His hair was stuck up manically as they shot across the ocean. "Don't just sit there and pine. Actually _do_ something- go eat something, I don't know. It might make you feel better."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Thanks a lot, Leo." But they both knew he was right- they all wanted to find their friends, and moping around wouldn't help. They needed to be strong, resilient.

The two guys trooped downstairs to find the others. These quarters were so much smaller than the Argo Ⅱ had been- there was an engine room, two small cabins and a tiny living area. It was really only meant for a maximum of four, but everyone had been  
/adamant they'd wanted to come. Hazel and Frank were staying in one of the bedrooms, Leo and Nico in the other, and Percy and Jason were on the sofas in the living room- both of them had figured that would be much less awkward than sharing a double  
/bed.

The other three were sprawled on the couches. Nico was digging in to a powdered donut, and Frank had his hand wrapped around Hazel. Her eyes were red from crying, but Percy and Jason knew better than to comment on it. They slumped dejectedly into their  
/seats.

"How long now?" Frank asked. His eyes carried the same worry that was etched into all of their faces.

"I'm not sure. Chiron said to head to Portland, Maine, and if the God of the North wished to meet us, he would."

Nico frowned. "Seems a little vague to me."

"Well it's the best we've got." Percy replied. "And it's our best chance of finding them."

"You're right." said Nico. "How long until we arrive in Portland then?"

"We should be there in an hour or so, and hopefully if we find Aparticus and he tells us where they are we'll be there by late afternoon. Nightfall, worst case scenario." Percy knew nightfall wasn't the worst case scenario- not finding Aparticus was,  
/but they all needed a bit of hope. It still didn't feel quick enough for Percy, like time had slowed to a halt, but he knew he had to keep persevering. For Annabeth's sake.

Leo was whistling to himself when he felt it. A sort of brush against his neck, and a tingle down his spine. He froze, cutting off the whistling, as fear jolted through him. What if it was like the eidolons, back in Camp Jupiter? He remembered how they  
/had made him fire on his friends and shuddered. He _seriously_ hated those guys. It had felt a bit like that, but still… different. Like a human flicked the switch to automatic pilot and, slowly, turned around.

There was nobody there.

The ship was eerily silent, rocking from side to side as it moved through the water. They had just reached the Portland area and Leo had started to slow down, but now he had half a mind to speed all the way back home.

There it was again- that brush on his neck. He spun back around, his stomach in knots, but there was nothing there. He sighed, knowing he was being stupid- he was jumpy, that was all. worried about his friends.

Then he heard it. _Thump. Thump._

Hazel suggested they play a card game from the stack she kept in her bag, and they were all grateful for the distraction. Nico, of course, was the best thanks to his expertise at mythomagic, and Frank wasn't too bad himself, but Percy reckoned if Leo  
/had been playing he would have given them all a run for his money. Probably by cheating.

They were half way into a game when they heard it. Two thumps The sound reverberated through the ship and Percy instinctively grabbed riptide.

There was a long pause.

"Guys?" Leo called, his voice muffled but still filled with fear. "You might want to get up here."

They rushed to the top of the ship to find Leo standing protectively in front of the hull, his hands burning with fire. In front of him stood two creatures that were nothing like Percy had ever seen before. The creatures were completely black, and looked  
/to be made completely out of muscles, which flexed and contracted as they moved. They turned around to face the approaching demigods, and their faces made Percy's heart pound in his chest as he uncapped riptide. Their eyes were empty, soulless, and  
/the only bones they had were a grinning set of pearly white teeth.

"Hello, demigods." They rasped. Their voices seemed to have layers to it, as if they were all talking together through a gravelly megaphone. "We have been expecting you."

Jason shook off his feeling of dread and took a step forward. "We are looking for Aparctias." he announced. "God of the north. You shall take us to him."

The two creatures looked at each other, and then turned back to Jason. An oily tongue slithered out to lick their lips. "No. We don't think so." they said. "We are going to eat you instead."

Jason glanced at Percy. Every demigod was armed and ready to attack, but if these things were their only way of getting to Aparcticas, they didn't want to kill them. They needed them.

The creatures took a slow step towards them, but Hazel stepped forward to meet them. "Wait." she ordered. "We need to speak to Aparctias. It is a matter of life or death. We will pay you in whatever jewels you desire." To prove her point, she made a pile  
/of jet black ruby's pop up from the ground. They glittered menacingly in the light.

The creatures laughed then- it was a horrible sound that sent ice down Percy's veins and made him grip his sword a bit tighter.

"We cannot be bought, silly girl." one said, shaking his head. "Now, prepare to _die_." Suddenly, their teeth grew into razor sharp incisors, wings sprouted from their backs, and the dark muscles of their fingers transformed into claws. They moved  
/quickly, darting towards Hazel with incredible speed. But she was quicker. Hazel bought up her blade and stabbed the first one in the stomach, making it cry out.

The ship became chaos then, and Percy groaned, knowing this would not help them in any way. Jason and Leo began to fight the other creature, Leo spewing fire whilst Jason sliced with his sword, and Frank hurried to help Hazel, arming his bow with dangerous-looking  
/arrows.

"Guys stop!" Percy called. But no one was listening to him. The roars of the strange creatures were too loud to shout over.

Sighing, Percy knew what he had to do. He lifted his hand, feeling the familiar pull in his gut as he summoned the water around him. Slowly, he lifted it up in a huge wave, then brought it crashing down onto his friends. "I said, _enough_!"

They all turned to face him- expressions varying from shock to anger. If it had been a different situation, the sight may have been comical.

"Percy," Jason ground out, flipping a wet piece of hair from his forehead. "What are you _doing_?"

Percy shrugged. "You wouldn't listen. We all need to stop fighting these things. We need them." He turned to the creatures, who, if they had eyes, would probably have looked murderous. "I am Percy Jackson, son of the sea god, and we could kill you any  
/day, monsters. However, we will refrain from doing so if you take us to your master." He paused. " _Now_."

The creatures looked at each other, and then at Percy, and slowly nodded. "We will lead the way, son of the sea god."

"Good." Percy smiled. "Now let's get dried up."


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I don't own HOO or PJO**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

The others were still miffed as they dried themselves with the big fluffy towels Leo had fortunately packed, but at least they were moving forward now. Leo had put the boat into flying gear and they were following the flying creatures through the clouds,  
/over the land below them. Percy hadn't put away his sword, partly as a warning to the creepy creatures and partly because he had a feeling he was going to need it soon.

They flew over Portland, following the black creatures. In the air they appeared less solid, like swirling puffs of smoke, but they stayed close as they led the ship of Demigods over the towns below them.

Eventually, they reached the outskirts of Portland, where the towns spread further out until it was only factories and big warehouses. The creatures suddenly swooped down and Leo brakedhard, causing them all tolurch ship  
hovered above the building the creatures hadlanded onto the roof of. It was righton the outskirts- an unmarked lump of a construction that looked like it had once been a factory for machinery parts from the faded brand name on the side, which  
Percy faintly recognised.

"This is where the God of the North lives?" Hazel asked, glancing uncertainlyat the grimy building.

"I guess so." Percy didn't like feeling so exposed- they'd have to climb down a ladder to get to the factory since Leo couldn't land the ship on the slanted roof, and it felt an awful lot like the day he and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus- but he knew  
/there was no other option.

Leo pushed a button on his control panel and a metal ladder sprang from the side of the ship, hitting the building's roof with a loudclang. He shrugged, seeing Percy's expression. "I figured it was better than a rope ladder." he explained. "You

know... bad memories."

Percydidn't need reminding. "Come on, let's go."

He was taking Leo, Jason and Frank with him, since Nico and hazel were going to guard the ship; that was the one thing he liked about questing with a bigger group of demigods- you didn't leave anything or anyone unprotected.

They reached the bottom of the ladder to find the creatures had disappeared. The roof was empty except for a closed hatch in the middle or the roof. The four boys shared a look before heading over to the hatch. Jason knelt down beside it and pressed his  
/ear to the wood before nodding to Percy. Slowly, he opened it to find a stairway, winding down into darkness.

"Let's go." Percy said lowly. Silently, they made their way down the stairs.

At the bottom of the winding staircase, it was almost pitch black, and completely silent. Leo lit a flame in his hand and Percy held up his sword. By the glow, he could see they were in a cramped, dark room. The floor was made of rotting wood that matched  
/that of the crusty door in front of them. Taking a deep breath, Percy placed his hand on the handle and turned.

They were met with an abundance of light and sound. Music pounded through the building, vibrating the walls and making the floor shake as people jumped around, dancing wildly. The room was packed with strange creatures- fairy-like things with vibrant-coloured  
/hair that matched their wings; great big lumbering animals with huge furry ears; monsters that looked like lobsters scuttling acorss the floor. The four demigods stood, wide-eyed, but no one paide them any attention.

Percy turned to the others. "Stay together. He's gotta be holding some kind of party- he'll be here soon."

The others nodded, too surprised to speak. This was not what they had been expecting. A woman with orange-coloured skin and sparkling tattoos approached them with a warm smile. She carried a silver tray filled with treats that reminded Percy painfully  
/of the lotus casino.

"Ooh, yum." Leo said, reaching out. Percy swatted his hand away.

"Don't eat _anything_." he growled, turning to face the woman. "We're looking for-" but she was gone, sinking back into the crowd.

Percy wanted to scream with frustration- the music was pounding in his ears gicing him a headache, and he hated scenes like this. Big, fancy distractions that were stopping him from getting to Annabeth.

"Follow me." Her told the others. Something in his expression must have conveyed his anger, because they shared looks and followed him silently as he turned and made his way through the crowd.

It was hard getting through, especially with a gleaming sword, so Percy had to cap riptide which didn't make him feel better. The room was filled with sweaty, moving bodies that pressed against him as he tried to squeeze past the weird creatures. His  
/head was spinning from the noise and the heat from the room, and he could only hope the others were following him. Minutes past, but he could still see no sign of anyone he figured looked like the North God, or the host of the party.

"You reckon he's here?" Jason called from behind him. There was no point trying to keep their voices down here.

Percy shook his head. He was just about to suggest they move in the other direction when he spotted a sparkle of gold out of the corner of his eye. "This way." he said, gesturing for the others to follow him. He broke through the throng of people to find  
/a cornered-off section of the party, where a man with a long dark hair and a black curly beard was being fed grapes on a golden throne by two of the pretty fairy girls. Behind him stood the two black creatures that had attacked them earlier, guarding  
/their king.

The man looked up as the demigods approached, his eyes tightening. "I heard there were demigods here. I'm surprised my guards let you in." He looked them over. "What is your business here?"

"We just want to talk." Percy explained. "You see, our friends have been taken and-"

"I can't help you."

Percy scowled. "But you haven't even listened to what we have to say!"

Aparctias waved his hand dismissively. "I don't need to, _Percy Jackson_." He spat the name like a curse. "I know who you are- the 'Great Hero of the Gods'. You're just like all the others: selfish, conceited. A little demigod brat."

Percy tried to reel in his building anger. "I am none of those things. I have come to you because I need your help. Not for me, but for my friends."

"Then why didn't you go to Boreas? _He's_ meant to be God of the North winds. _He_ works for Aeolus."

Jason scowled. "I've met Boreas before, and you're right. But we were told to come here, to you."

"Oh, what would I know that he doesn't? I'm done, finished. _He's_ the real God." His voice was bitter and, if it had been under different circumstances, Percy might have felt a bit sorry for him.

They shared a look. "What do you mean?" Jason pressed.

Aparctias glared at him. "Don't you get it?" he asked. "I'm not meant to exist. I shouldn't be here."

"What?" Leo looked perplexed. "But you are here. Why shouldn't you exist?"

Aparctias let out a long sigh and waved off his fairy servants to join the party. They scuttled away with angry glances at the four boys. "I am not… a real God." he said, slowly. "'Aparcticus' started out as another name for Boreas. It was simply what  
/some people saw him as. Saw _me_ as."

Frank frowned. "I don't understand."

"You wouldn't, would you?" he rolled his eyes. " _Romans_. You see, overtime, Aparcticus- I- became separated from Boreas. We were two different people, two different life forms. I became known as the God of the North, and he the God of the North  
/Wind. But… he was always the real God, the one people looked up to, prayed for." He looked around his factory. "I was pushed to the outskirts, here, where I'm barely remembered. So many times I've felt myself fading, but I've always managed to cling  
/on."

Understanding leaked into Percy's eyes. "So this place… all these creatures…"

"Yes, Percy Jackson. They all started out as another name for some other creature, and grew from that. I take in monsters and beings that don't really belong and we reside here, shunned from society, until we eventually fade."

"That doesn't seem right." Frank said, brow furrowed.

A deep sadness bled into Aparcticus's eyes. "The world is not right, demigod. Have you not yet learnt that?" He sighed. "That is why I cannot help you. I have not got the power to do so."

"But you can." Percy insisted. 'I've met countless life forms that have been shunned, forgotten. My friend, Briares. He was a hundred-handed one and he has fought with us many times. You can fight to be remembered."

Aparcticus smiled. "I admire your bravery, Percy Jackson. Maybe you are not like the other heroes, after all. But I can't help you."

"Please." Frank cut in. "Please try. Our friends, they'll die otherwise."

There was a long pause as Aparcticus looked at him until, finally, he sighed. "Fine. I shall try. What is it you wanted to know?"

"Our friends." said Jason quickly. "They've been taken. They're somewhere in the North, and it's something to do with Metias and a guy named Daniel."

Aparcticus's eyes darkened. "Metias, you say? She must be back to her old tricks."

"So you know something? You can help us?" Percy checked.

"If she is planning what I think she is planning then no one will be able to help you, demigod. We will all be doomed."

Percy had heard _that_ before. "Just tell us where they are." he said. "We can worry about the rest later."

Aparcticus sighed. "Head east of Montana to the national forest there. It should be around there somewhere, I think."

"Montana is a monster-free zone." Jason replied, frowning. "That's why the Amazons hunt close to that area. They don't go past the Montana border but it's meant to be one of the safest place for demigods."

Aparcticus nodded grimly. "That's why she has gone there- to lure them in. You must head there immediately, for I fear it may almost be too late for your friends."

Percy bowed. "We must leave now, then. Thank you Aparcticus. I will ensure that we pray for you at camp, that there is a cabin built for you children."

"You will?" He looked at the grim set of Percy's mouth, the determination in his expression. "If that is so, then you are a good demigod, Percy Jackson. The best of your kind."

"Thank you, sir. For everything."

And with that they left, heading towards Montana, towards Annabeth and Piper.


End file.
